Today’s scripture: John 8:12-30 (NRSV) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Tom Chittenden):
We’ve all been told, “Don’t believe everything you hear or read!” But what manner of mental and emotional gyrations are you thrown into if I were to append to that statement — “and that applies to the Bible too”?
Do all of the Christian soldiers in your mind (who have been precisely marching as to war) suddenly crash into one another as they scurry to take their defensive battle positions? Do all of the pins, ribbons, plaques and trophies we acquired memorizing scriptures, competing in “bible bowls” or “church camp sword drills” begin to fly off the walls and bulletin boards of our memories? Do even the words themselves cause a stirring that you find uncomfortable — even disturbing?
Is it enough to have the scripts or canned remarks memorized in order to answer the question, “What do you believe?” What happens when suddenly the follow-up inquiry comes: “Why?”
I remember introducing that follow-up question so many times as a youth pastor and hearing answers something like this: “I remember somewhere in the Bible that God said ‘it’. So I believe it!” (even if others understand it differently, and even if my own personal experience calls it into question). “I believe it because that’s what my Sunday School teacher, camp counselor, the preacher, grandma, mom and dad told me!”
And so the phrase goes, “God (or some authority figure) said it, I believe it, that settles it!”
And so I ask another question — Where has all of this brought you and me to today?
If in the reading and study of Scriptures we equate them as the ultimate source of authority and elevate them to a status equal with God — beware! Our allegiance is only to the One of whom the Scriptures testify. We worship the One the Scriptures reveal. History is full of people who found it safer to control Scriptures rather than God who they could not. Jesus said, “You diligently study Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40) Jesus invites us to look up from the page and into God’s face. —If Grace Is True, Gulley & Mulholland
Thought for the day: Is our faith’s foundation based on leftovers and hand-me-downs from people, places, and events outside of ourselves? Or is it solidly rooted in a genuine, personal encounter with the Living God through Jesus Christ? Think long and hard about your answer.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to begin, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.