What I learned reading the Bible.

December 31, 2010 mondayswithmaria

When I was nine, we moved from Florida to upstate NY where my maternal great-grandparents grew up.  My parents moved us into “the labor camp”.  In its prime, it housed migrant workers who worked on my great-grandfather’s potato farm each summer.  It was just a long, simple cinderblock building…not a home.  My parents worked feverishly from July until winter to prepare a kitchen and living area that could be kept warm during the frigid winter.  We didn’t have TV, running water, or even bedrooms, so we hung out in the kitchen a lot.  Mom went to work at 7 p.m., dad put the boys to bed in their makeshift beds in the living room, and then he and I would play Yahtzee or Boggle in the kitchen until my bedtime rolled around.  I loved this special time with my dad.  He would tell me all about his current project (he was a carpenter/cabinet maker) – the challenges and the successes, as well as jobs he was bidding on.  This was the closest time in our relationship, and we understood each other best.  Things changed dramatically by the time I was 12.  He was drinking again and absent a lot.  When he was home, I was picking fights with him.

Bottom line, I was closest to my dad when we invested time and interest in each other.  Isn’t that true of all relationships?  Reading through the Bible in the last 6 months was a special relationship building time with my heavenly Father.  The objective was not just to read the whole thing, finish it, and check it off my list; the focus was to read my Father’s letters to me with the intention to hear Him, understand Him, and then use His words to change me and my approach to everyday life.  It was an amazing experience and much more powerful in forcing myself to reflect on how God wants me to use and apply His word to my everyday life.

There have been times in my spiritual life when I relied on sermons and Sunday School lessons for spiritual knowledge and growth and for the bulk of my relationship with God.  My beloved, that was a HUGE mistake!!!  Don’t get me wrong, there is great value in those activities, but a relationship can’t be built without one-on-one quality time.  A relationship requires give and take, talking and listening, sharing and serving.  Not only did I learn how to recognize personal life applications for passages, but I learned how to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with God.  Reading the Bible with purpose helped me to listen to God more intently, pray more meaningfully, and serve Him more effectively.

Most surprisingly, I found this experience to be spiritually empowering.  I am more comfortable with my Bible and all it says.  I can find things I’m looking for more easily, and understand passages in context better than before.  I recognize God speaking to me, and though I don’t always like it, I am excited that He is still working on me and with me.

Will I do it again?  Absolutely!  Reading the Bible is now a regular part of my life, because it is an essential element of my relationship with my Father.  I hope you found my journey interesting and inspiring.  Join me for a new year of exploration into God’s word.

May God bless you, and happy New Year!

Maria

Entry Filed under: Why am I doing this?!?!

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