Yeah... But It's Intimidating (Devotion)

Welcome/Series Intro

Hey friends! Hard to believe, but here we are: approaching the end of October, and the end of a series that we’ve been in for most of this fall: Skeptics Guide to the Bible.

So, one more time—and helpful for you if you’re here for the first time this weekend—here’s where we’ve been in the series so far:

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Show Skeptics Journey picture (p. 7)

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Ok. So, quite a journey we’ve been on together—especially if you’re one of those who has followed along every week and stuck with it.

But as we conclude the series this weekend, this is where the “rubber meets the road” so to speak. Because now: let’s talk about making this a habit or a practice… a real rhythm of how we live our lives.

So, here’s our vision for you when it comes to you and the Bible. Here’s what I want for you; here’s the whole point of this long journey we’ve been on the last several weeks. Here it is:

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We want you to read the Bible like you’re listening and speaking to God himself.

Spending time in the Bible = spending time with God.

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I can’t say it any more clearly than that. (Repeat.)

Now, for some of you, that’s just a given. In saying that, I didn’t say anything new.

But for others of you, that might be a great vision, or a destination you want to get to… but it feels like you can’t quite get there (even if you tried… or maybe you have tried. And it’s kinda intimidating to step in the batter’s box again).

And if that’s you...

You’re not alone.

In fact, you’re in the majority.

If you feel intimidated to make that your vision, you’re not alone. Here’s some data and a story.

Story first.

Our family—my wife and our two kids—have a bedtime routine that we do together. Of course, this has looked different over the years. But for the last several years, it’s more or less looked like a devotional time of some kind. Maybe we do some Wee Kids or Kidventure stuff that our Children’s ministry has sent home with our kids; maybe we watch something on Right Now Media (which is a free, streaming, extensive video library of content that you can get access to through PLC).

We’ve done a few different things like that—and then one of the kids prays.

Well, recently, we kinda felt like that time had gotten a little stale. And you gotta keep it fresh, you know? So:

We got the kids some age-appropriate Bibles (again: our children’s and student ministry teams are super helpful on that), and then just kinda challenged them to do some reading on their own as they are getting ready for bed.

So, they put on their PJ’s, brush their teeth, and then read their Bibles in their rooms.

Ellie, my now 11 year old, asked me how much she should read (because of course she did)—and I told her and my 13 year old, Jude: keep it around 5 minutes. And then after you’re done, come out to the living room, tell us about what you read, and we’ll talk about it.

So, they thought that was kind of a cool idea. And so we’ve been doing that the past several weeks.

But about a week ago or so, Ellie came out of her room, and Jude came out of his room, and we start asking them about what they read, and...

Ellie goes:

“I read the part where Moses kills that Egyptian and then God sends the plagues and kills a bunch of Egyptians. Is Moses a good guy or a bad guy? And why doesn’t God just punish Pharaoh? Why does he kill all of those other people? What about the Egyptians that maybe weren’t like Pharaoh or even maybe believed in God?”

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

And then Jude says:

“I read where Jesus cursed the fig tree. So...”

I’ll ask them: “So, what stood out to you?”

Um… don’t get on God’s bad side, and watch out if you’re a fig tree, I guess.

I mean, what is God saying to me through that? If “spending time with the Bible is spending time with God” and should feel like listening to him and speaking with him, then…

My kids had some weird conversations that night.

And I think that’s what so many of us, even when we’ve tried jumping in and really giving it a go—like, “tomorrow’s the day. I’m gonna dust it off. I’m gonna start the Bible reading plan. I’m gonna...

So many of us so quickly feel like my kids felt that night. It doesn’t feel like a relationship. Or if it does, it feels like an awkward one.

And the data backs this up.

Every 5 years or so, the American Bible Society teams up with a Christian research firm, the Barna Group, to produce a study called “The Bible in America.” Here’s what one of their more recent studies found:

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81% of Americans consider the Bible a “holy book.”

68% of Americans consider the Bible a “comprehensive guide to a meaningful life.”

But only 17% believe it’s the inspired Word of God and read it 4 or more times per week.

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Ok. So, that’s an interesting trend, right? Is it a “holy book?” You bet! Does it help you live a meaningful life? Yes it does.

So you must really be connecting with God like all the time in Scripture, huh?

Uh… no.

Now, we’re talking “all Americans” here. But we know that just over half of America doesn’t even attend church regularly. What about just church people? What if we were talking only about people who are practicing Christians? How often to they read it?

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Around 50% of practicing Christians are reading the Bible either every day or several times per week.

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And the data says that creeps up to about 60% if you’re on the older side and around 40% if you’re on the younger side. If you’re my age or younger, you’re probably not reading your Bible more than once per week on average.

So, listen:

If you’re kinda squirming and a little sheepish about how often you read the Bible or how you feel about it… just know that you’re not alone. It’s very, very likely that the person sitting in front of you or behind you or even right next to you is in the same boat.

But, once again—here’s what we want for you:

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We want you to read the Bible like you’re listening and speaking to God himself.

Spending time in the Bible = spending time with God.

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That’s our vision for you. That’s what I’d love for you make as your own vision and start chasing after.

Here’s where we’re gonna start: turn with me to Psalm 119.

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Psalm 119

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The Psalms are a collection of Hebrew songs. And there’s a bunch of different kinds.

But Psalm 119 is pretty unique. It has the distinction of being the longest Psalm (and actually, the largest chapter in the whole Bible). 176 verses in the chapter.

But it’s an acrostic. The Psalmist wrote one section for each Hebrew letter in their alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; so there are 22 sections or stanzas of the Psalm. And each stanza is made up of 8 verses or 16 lines of poetry.

And here’s the cool part that you can’t really see in the English translation:

It was written in Hebrew. The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter “aleph.” And so all 8 lines of the first stanza of Psalm 119—or the first 8 verses—all start with the letter “aleph.”

The next stanza (or the next 8 verses, verses 9-16) each start with the next letter of the Hebrew alphbet, beth.

And so on.

But there is a theme running through each stanza:

God’s Word. That’s what all 176 verses are about.

And sometimes the Psalmist calls it just that: God’s word.

But other times, he calls it the law. Or rulings. Or statutes. Or commands.

Or sayings. Or charges. Or precepts.

Which all make sense—because technically, or more specifically, the Psalmist is talking about the Torah—or the first (5) books of our Bible. And much of what’s in those first (5) books are exactly that: God’s laws, statutes, and commands.

But in Psalm 119, he also calls God’s word his way. Or his path.

So I think it’s still good exegesis and hermeneutics to apply what the Psalmist says about the Torah to our relationship with all of the Bible as God’s Word.

So here we go. We’re gonna read all 176 verses, line by line. Settle in.

No. What we’re actually going to do is read the last few verses of a few different stanzas. Because it seems like in the last verse or two of the stanza, the Psalmist describes his relationship to God’s word. What he feels. What his relationship with God is like through it.

Take a look at verse 14, for example:

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Psalm 119:14–16 “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”

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Look at those words:

Rejoice. Delight.

Follow. Meditate. Consider. Don’t neglect.

How many of us would say that emotionally, we feel an overflow of joy and delight as we spend time with God in his Word? Just think about that emotionally for a second: when you read it, do you feel joy? Delight?

Maybe if there were less murders, plagues, and fig trees shriveling up.

Fair enough.

But it seems like the Psalmist does more than just read some stories, right?

He meditates. He considers.

He creates some space and some time to slow down and let God speak to him through it.

You know, when we first started doing this devotional rhythm with our kids, there were more than a few times that they’d literally forget what they read from the time they read it to the time we started to talk about it.

Or, when I’d ask them what stood out to them, then they’d open it up (again), read it (again), and then have something to say about it.

And it was a great opportunity for us as parents to kinda talk about this and even coach into it. If you were a fly on the wall in our living room that night, here’s what you would have heard us say to our kids about how to approach their time with God in his Word:

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You can either “just read the Bible”—or you can have a conversation with God:

Pray before you read and ask God to speak to you.

Pay attention to what stands out to you.

Pay attention to the things you don’t understand.

Expect to talk about it after you read.

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(#1 - He’s talking to you. You’re listening. You’re talking to him. He’s listening. You’re having a conversation. You’re not just reading a book. You’re having a real time conversation with the God who is alive—and alive in his word.)

(#2 - So… pray. Ask him to speak to you before. If you get stuck or confused, what would you do if you felt that way in a conversation with someone? You’d ask them to clarify. Do that as you read, but do it with God.)

(#3 -& 4 - capture the things that grab you - and capture the things that confuse you. Capture it mentally. Or write it down. Or stop and talk to God more about that.)

(#5 - this is the real power. If you’re intimidated by reading Scripture or this idea of talking with God and listening to God through it, one of the best ways to get over that and on the other side is to talk about it with a trusted friend.)

You can either “just read it”—or you can approach it like you’re having a conversation with God. It’s not hard to see the difference—or which approach is better. The conversational approach has led to way better questions and conversations after they’ve read.

This approach seems to be what the Psalmist is talking about—and probably why it’s bringing him such joy and delight. Stimulating conversations, real connections with real people, different perspectives and insights, learning and growing… these are the things that we long for on a deep, soul level. And when we experience them, the outcome is genuine joy and delight.

You get this all the way through Psalm 119, by the way:

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Psalm 119:24 “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.”

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Psalm 119:47 “for I delight in your commands because I love them.”

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Psalm 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

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Psalm 119:111 “Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.”

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Ok. Probably a little overkill. But you get it.

Now: what do we do, though, when we don’t feel that joy and delight as we go to read? Do we jump to the conclusion that something is wrong with us? We’re not doing it right? That God is upset with us? Maybe we prayed the wrong prayer.

You know what? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that. And you know what else? I don’t think there really is just one clear obvious answer to that. I can tell you this, though: me too. Me too. I feel that way sometimes. Like spending time with God in his word is more of a chore than a joy. It just happens sometimes. To all of us.

In fact, the same guy who wrote all of those great things about God’s word in this super long Psalm also wrote this:

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Psalm 119:81–84 “My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?” Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees. How long must your servant wait?”

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But I thought you just said that God’s Word is sweeter than honey and brings joy to your heart and sends you to that place where unicorns eat rainbows and poop skittles. What happened to all of that? What happens when it’s not that? Or not that for a long time?

Well, here’s what’s worked for me:

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Just start again.

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Just start again.

At the beginning of this year, before I even knew that I was going to have to have heart surgery, I knew that I just needed to lose weight. Just needed to lose weight. (And I still do, by the way.)

And so one of the things I started to do was just track food. What I was eating. How much.

And the app I used was one called “Noom.” And when I first started to use it, you could pay for access to some articles and even some coaching—which I did.

And they were so good to teach me about the psychology or the mindset that can kinda get us off track when we’re on journeys like this—for example:

Maybe I missed tracking a meal. Or maybe I just completely blew my calorie count for the day. Whatever it was: I failed.

Well, if you’re not careful, that failure can basically talk you into just falling off the cliff.

You blew your calorie count today after being so good for so many days in a row. So, you undid all that work. So, tomorrow, what does it matter? You’ve already screwed it up; might as well just keep on eating whatever you want.

But that’s a completely irrational (and even destructive!) thought. Right? You screwed up once. And so it erases all the work you’ve done to this point and also makes any efforts moving forward pointless.

That makes no sense.

But it also is so familiar and such an easy trap to fall into.

The trick, though, was to better recognize that thought and then call it out for what it really was:

A lie.

So I read the Bible today and didn’t really hear God’s voice or felt mostly confused.

Okay.

So I was in a great habit for awhile but it’s been several days or weeks or even months since I’ve opened up and read it for myself.

Okay.

Just start again.

(Closing comments on the series; groups; next up: Not In It to Win It)