(July 22, 2020)
“…[Paul’s] letters contain some things that are hard to understand…”
– 2 Peter 3:16
One of the main reasons most people do not pick up the Bible more is simply because they are overwhelmed by it. (This is why I wrote that brief Bible Outline that we give out at church – contact the office if you want one at .)
Just over these past two weeks of vacation as I re-read Kings and Jeremiah, I had moments of being overwhelmed. The Bible is so vast. It spans thousands of years, was written in different languages, covers empire after empire after empire… I find it comforting that even the Apostle Peter – one of the original Twelve disciples who knew Jesus in the flesh – even said that some of the Bible is hard to understand. And he knew Paul personally.
The amazing thing is that despite the length and depth of the scriptures, the American revivalist Charles G. Finney was correct when he used to lift up the Bible in his hand and say, “This is God’s Word to us, and it is condensed.”
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So why all this talk on the vastness of the scriptures? It is not to turn you off from the Bible, but to remind us that it is completely natural to feel this way from time to time. It reminds us that we are finite, limited, human. And God is big. There is no way any person can “know it all.”
This is one of the reasons that there is so much bitter fighting in our national politics today: many in the public eye display an utter lack of humility. It is painful. And draining. It is not life-giving because it is antithetical to the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5).
…if you think it would be refreshing to see a little humility in this world, then keep the Scriptures open in front of your face. They are a reminder that we are small and God is big. They remind us that we need Him so. They remind us – they tell us – that God’s Word is not the only thing that is vast… so is His grace and love.
