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The Bible Is Not A Burden: 3 Truths About God’s Word

The Bible is Not a Burden- 3 Truths About God’s Word

One thing I’ve found quite odd in the Christian community is the mindset that reading the Bible is a chore.

 

Think about it. When was the last time most of us thought about reading the Bible – maybe the first thing that pops into our heads is Old Testament law – and thought, “Wow, this is such a great thing to read!”?

 

As hard as it is to admit it, I often have thought that way.

 

It took me until I was twelve or thirteen to really grasp the significance of the Bible, and practically only this year have I found such comfort, peace, and joy in studying it.

 

But we Christians so often treat God’s Holy Word like it’s a burden to read.

 

Because I’m an avid reader, I often have a book on hand that I’m into and want to read. Many times, I’ll read the Bible on my Kindle, where I have a lot of other books. While knowing full-well that I am here to read the Bible, to spend time with God and study His word, I get distracted and start thinking about what happened in the last chapter of that new novel, or how it’s going to end, or how the characters are going to make it out alive. It’s sad for me to admit it, but so many times, I’m so engaged in a fictional world that I forget how life-changing the Bible truly is.

 

I think our attitudes towards the Bible come from the misconceptions we harbor toward the Word of God. The misconception that the Bible is just life’s rulebook, one we must obey or else face the wrath of our iron-fisted God. The misconception that the Bible is just another classic book – dusty, hard to read, and irrelevant.

 

They’re not true.

 

And here, I would like to share with you three truths about the Bible to help us avoid the “duty” mindset.

 

  1. The Bible is Powerful.

The Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It’s not just a book written by people who lived thousands of years ago and thought they were important. It was written by God, through humans just like us, whom God decided to use. Not because they were special, but because they were willing.

 

This means that the principles in the Bible are timeless. The Gospel does not change. Jesus, the Savior of Paul, is the same Savior that we place our faith in today. We pray to the same God that Martin Luther prayed to, and Moses prayed to, and George Washington prayed to, and Mother Theresa prayed to. We see all these people as amazing; and yet they were just vessels that were used by God through their relationship with Him.

 

  1. The Bible Encourages Us.

When I’m depressed and discouraged, I can find no distraction big enough to fix me. I can find no motivational quote inspiring enough to get me through. But the Scripture can. Scriptures that remind me that I can have peace, no matter what. Scriptures that remind me that I am never forgotten or forsaken. Scriptures that remind me that I am lavished in love, and it has nothing to do with me.

 

Now listen, I’m not trying to say that simply reading the Bible is the end-all-be-all of depression, anxiety, or any other struggles. Simply reading does nothing, for truly knowing God is the key.

 

By reading the Bible, we get to know God. We get to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We get to know that the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside us (Romans 8:11). We get to be acquainted with the fact that no matter how we perform, no matter what happens to us in this life, no matter the depths of despair, we can have hope.

 

The rest of the world cannot have this hope because it is supernatural. Only in the Bible can we truly know the hope of Christ – His love, His grace, and His joy regardless of our circumstances (Romans 5:2-5).

 

  1. The Bible Leads Us To Maturity.

Let me be straight-up here – there is no greater book pertaining to our faith than the Bible. No other book that is the standard of absolute truth. There is no other book with concepts that stand out in different ways to us every time we read them. To forsake the Bible as absolute truth is to reject maturity.

 

What do I mean by that?

 

I simply mean that if we want to grow in our faith, we must move past the elementary doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1) and get over the emotions. Faith is more than a feeling; it is a choice and it is assurance of our hope (Hebrews 11:1).

 

When we read the Bible, our faith is strengthened. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts and reveals things to us that we haven’t seen before.

 

As for growing, we grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). By studying the Bible, we can begin to comprehend what grace looks like and why it is incredible. We see that in our darkness when we did not deserve forgiveness whatsoever, our sins were paid for.

 

The more we read, the more we understand. The more we understand, the more we want to get to know God better. And the more we will.

 

Let’s stop looking at the Bible like it’s a burden, a chore, or a hassle.

 

Instead, let us see it for the blessing that it is – the offering of hope in the midst of our crazy lives.

 

*aj

 

 

See Also:

 

Why Should I Read The Bible?

 

How to Read the Bible {effectively spending time with our Heavenly Father}

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Confusion in Doctrine: I Can Handle That.

Confusion in Doctrine- I Can Handle That.

It’s crazy how many things go around as universally acknowledged truths when in actuality, they’re just some random person’s thoughts that people think sounds good.

In Christian circles, quotes become doctrine, and people get…confused.

A lot of people say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”

Okay…well, if this is true, then why does cancer happen? Why do loved ones die without being saved? Why do disabilities happen? Why do thousands of casualties happen when fighting for freedom? Why do school shootings happen? Tsunamis? Hurricanes that wipe out entire cities?

So apparently, I can just “handle” all these bad things? Um, no, I can’t.

I can’t handle these things because I’m human. God never meant for us to handle these things alone, because welcome to the universe, we’re fragile.

However, it doesn’t stop there.

When bad things happen that we cannot handle, we are forced to rely on God.

Hard times come – trust me, I know – and in them we have a choice. We can either say, “I’m going to do this by myself,” or “God, the only way I’m going to get through this is by trusting You to help me.”

I can either rely on my strength, or God’s.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Romans 8:37

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

We are more than conquerors because Jesus is the conqueror. We weren’t the ones who did the conquering. He is, and gives that victory to us.

I read a blog post recently on a favorite blog of mine by Phylicia Masonheimer. It got me thinking, because I’ve thought this way for a while now.

I love how she phrases this point.

“God gives us more than we can handle because what we can’t handle drives us to dependence on Him.” – Phylicia Masonheimer, Why God WILL Give You More Than You Can Handle. http://phyliciadelta.com/why-god-will-give-you-more-than-you-can-handle/

When we depend on Him, our relationship with our loving Heavenly Father is strengthened. It’s not because He wants to control us. He loves us, and wants us to know Him.

He created us, and saved our souls.

Life throws us more than we can handle all the time. He’s not the One who tempts us (as it says in James 1:13-15).

He has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us.

Hebrews 13:5-6

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

Deuteronomy 31:8

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

It all comes down to this. Are we going to rely on ourselves, or on God?

Are we going to trust ourselves, or God?

Are we going to depend on ourselves, or on the only One who can handle our troubles?

*aj

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When I Am Weak…

Galaxy

Honestly, I usually think of myself as a weakling.

Not just physically, although I should probably work on that…

But I mean, I don’t really have amazing strength as a person.

I know how easy it is to fail a test.

I know how not to get stuff done.

I know how not to keep my emotions intact.

I know what it’s like to go through hard things.

I know what it’s like to be completely imperfect.

I guess we all do.

So many times I’ve relied on myself for strength…and failed.

Because my strength isn’t enough. My power is imperfect.

Imagine if life was all about how well we accomplished things. (Obviously, I would fail.) So if this was so, where would grace come in? What if we failed once? Twice? Ten thousand times?

I guess this comes back to the age-old question, “If people are good enough to get to heaven on their own, then why did Jesus have to die?”

Well, let’s face it. We are not good enough. Nobody has to teach us how to do wrong. Or fail. Or suffer. Weakness is a part of our humanity. But have you ever thought that that could be used for God’s purposes?

Yesterday morning, I was reading 2 Corinthians 12. And though I’ve read it before, it stuck out to me. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says,

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve gone from being perfection-obsessed to being fine with failure. So, where’s the balance?

Life is going to be hard, and we are going to struggle. I know I do. But the one thing we must remember when all of this happens, is that we were not meant to carry this alone. Because, as we know, life isn’t about us. And if we try to depend on our own strength, well, it isn’t gonna work. If we want to get through life, we need to depend on God. And this obviously implies that we don’t get the credit.

So, because of the weakness we have, Christ’s power will help us. Which is better than being “all set.” Because of our weakness, we are given grace. Because of our suffering, His power rests upon us. So, therefore, what Paul is saying here is that our strength comes from God alone to fill in the gaps of our weakness (which is like, every part of our lives).

So, on our own, we are hopeless and weak. Because no one can do life alone, no matter how pleasant it may seem.

But with God, we are given His grace and power to live life. We’re never going to be perfect until we get to heaven, and life’s never going to be easy until then, either. But remember: His grace is sufficient! He is the perfection for us.

It’s not the end of the world when we suffer, because we have hope and assurance that God will be right here, beside us. His power rests upon us in and through it all.

And we can say wholeheartedly, “When I am weak (living in the flesh), then I am strong (God’s power in me).” Remember guys, God will never leave you or forsake you. His love is everlasting, and you can’t do anything to make His love for you go away. His love has forgiven your sin, and has been poured out upon you.

I’m not perfect, but I don’t expect to be. I am living a life without regret: a life devoted to God, living for Him, through Him, and by Him Alone.

I’m going to be weak, and so are we all. But when we are weak, it is then that we are strengthened by Him.

*aj