I believe that the Bible is one cohesive book despite being comprised of 66 disparate books and written by 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years.

I also know that it is God’s love story to us, a story about failure and restoration; separation and reunion.

But I really hadn’t connected the dots in other ways . . . until last week.

I was reading Psalm 19:7-9 the other day. Listen to the words.






The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

Do those bolded words sound familiar? They did to me, too. Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I have often debated what things Paul meant when he said “true, noble, right, and pure,” and have always assigned them a human counterpart. And commentaries would support this, as there was some discord in the Philippian church, and Paul was encouraging them to focus on these uplifting and God-pleasing attributes instead of their differences.

However, what hit home to me was that the source of these attributes is God’s Word itself as David writes in Psalm 19. God’s Word is all these things. If we read and instill His Word, then we cannot but help focus on and live a life defined by these qualities.

Likewise, later in the chapter in verse 14 David writes:

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

And just like that, Matthew 15:18 comes to mind:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart.

The Bible is indeed unified in purpose(s): to reveal a loving God; to proclaim salvation through Christ; and to encourage and enable us to bring glory to God by becoming more Christlike every day.

Dot to dot to dot.

I should have known this, but I didn’t. Or I chose not to make it my primary focus.

I know why a lot of people don’t read the Bible as I have heard each of the following. “I don’t like what it says (or what I think it says since I haven’t actually read it).”  “I don’t believe in the Bible.” “It is too difficult to understand.” “It is boring.” “It is out of date and has no relevance for today.” “It’s just a list of does and don’ts.” There are some others I am sure.



But for those of us who do read the Bible, we too have our reasons: Some read to find application for today’s life.  After all, doesn’t Paul say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16:  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Others read to find solace and comfort. Many are in search of the road to salvation. And still others want to gain historical and archeological knowledge.

All of these are worthy reasons for reading the Bible, but Alistair Begg in his January 28 devotional reminded his readers of the primary question we should be asking with each verse we read:  “God is the hero of the story and the theme of the book, and so the first question we ask of every passage ought to be this: ‘What does this tell me about God?’ The Bible was written to establish God’s dealings, character, and glory.”

Yes, the Bible offers comfort … but that is because our God is a loving God. Yes, it makes commands regarding behaviors … but that is because our God is a righteous and holy God. Yes, it offers mercy and salvation … because our God wants to have a relationship with us. And yes, the Bible holds historical and archeological truths that generations have unveiled and revealed in their time because the Bible is God’s Word.

As we we pick up our Bibles either to read in general or to search for a particular answer, let us also remember to read for what the Bible truly offers: a revelation of just who God is. This is our opportunity to see clearly who God was, who He is, and who He will always be.  “For I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6).

This past month there has been a lot of talk about the Constitution––what it stands for––how we should defend it––so much so that one national reporter went on the streets to see just what Americans actually knew about the Constitution.

Now, I know that the best stories are those that show the best or the worst of us––extremes always make for good copy––so I wasn’t surprised when the reporter shared the “how little” side of the poll. Out of the one hundred questions on the Naturalization Test, the reporter asked about five of the relatively easy ones, ones that probably every citizen should know. Unfortunately, these filmed few, didn’t.

Though most of us hang onto the rights of the Constitution with a chokehold, I would wager that very few of us have taken a peak at it, let alone studied it, since we were tested on it back in the eighth grade or reviewed portions of it during our government class our senior year of high school. That is unless our field of study required it, or a trivia contest brought some of it back to memory. (I have attached the link to the one hundred questions below so that you can test or refresh your memory.)

This same lapse of memory often occurs when we have to take the written driving test again. Though we claim to know the what the laws or the road are, suddenly the actual laws are a bit fuzzy.

Over time, these lapses change the way we remember the laws allowing us to manipulate the truth a bit in our favor, and our reality takes on a personal hue.

Many Christians have fallen into a similar pattern regarding the Bible. We say we know its contents––we claim its promises; and we quote some well-worn verses––but sometimes there is a gap between what we think it says and what it actually says because our actual reading it and studying it has lapsed, thereby causing some personal “hues” to seep in and color our knowledge and understanding.

As an English teacher I could always tell which students had actually read the book and which ones had gleaned their knowledge from Cliffs Notes or the internet. The latter may have been able to recite a few main characters, recount a sweeping theme, or spout off a motif or two, but they didn’t know how it all fit together. They couldn’t understand the author’s intent nor appreciate his or her skill.

The Bible both encourages and commands us to study God’s word.

Psalm 1:2 says the blessed man has “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 shows the value of knowing all of the bible: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

And Paul reminds Timothy that he should “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

As Christians we need to know what the Bible says, not rely on what we think it says or on what others have told us it says. We need to see each verse in its context, so we can understand its true meaning, not pull it out of context to make it fit our personal agenda.

Our Constitution is the law of the land, our vehicle code the law of the road, both important. But the Bible is the law of our soul, of our salvation, of our ability to live in harmony with God and others. If your reading of the Bible has lapsed, then I encourage you to pick it back up and start reading again, whether a chapter(s) or a verse(s) a day, and then meditating on those words. God has promised to bless you and guide you because of your faithfulness.

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf