I read my Bible every day, with rare exceptions. For a while there, I would sit on the couch with a cup of coffee in the morning. I'd do a magic flip, or read a Psalm, or flip back and forth between Old and New Testament books. I had no reading plan, and I was pretty much just reading for a thought for the day. God showed me stuff, but my time in the Bible wasn't really that exciting.
Recently, I decided I wanted to start really studying the Bible again. I won't go into detail about my methods, but for the past couple of weeks, I've been sitting down with my Bible (in the 2 translations I have here) and a notebook and several different colored pens or even colored pencils. I've been picking apart sentences, making outlines, looking at word order, asking the author questions and letting the text answer.
You know what I'm noticing more than anything else in my studies? PASSION! God is passionately in love with people. So much so that he died for us. And he wants us to be passionately in love with Him. And when we're passionately in love with Him, we are so eager to please. That turns us into obedient children, not because God is a strict father, but because we love Him so much we want to give Him joy by living like He wants us to!
The language of the Bible is strong language. The New Testament is filled with phrases like, "be all the more eager," "make every effort,"see to it," "count it pure joy," "inexpressible and glorious joy," etc. The Bible doesn't really leave room for lukewarm Christianity. Church on Sunday morning is not the point. He wants us JOYFUL and HAPPY in Him. He wants us to eagerly pursue qualities that magnify Him. He wants us to persevere, and in perseverance there is greater intimacy and joy.
Every so often, I'll read a book or watch a movie that makes me wish I could just move back to America, have a nice kitchen, comfortable couches, a handsome husband, and maybe a decent looking car. Once in a while, I feel like trading in the Pursuit of Happiness in God for the pursuit of happiness through the American dream. But what I've seen in God's written word over the past few weeks pushes me forward. Deep down, I know this is the point (or at least part of it) - that we passionately fall in love with God who first passionately loved us.
I'm just sayin'....
