What is love but the constant pursuit of something you deem valuable? A pursuit that is paradoxically delightful and uncomfortable. To love something outside of ourselves, as fallen beings, means to resist molding the object we are pursuing into something easy for us to love. True love considers something’s true nature. The nature of Scripture is radically profound because, as Paul writes, who can understand the mind of God but his Spirit (1 Cor 2:11)? Understanding the nature of Scripture means understanding that we will never exhaust the truths within it. Nevertheless, we can know something truthfully without knowing it exhaustively. Hearing this as a Bible student in college for the first time was simultaneously terrifying and comforting. God does not expect complete comprehension. Rather, He desires genuine love. For some of us, loving any kind of reading is unimaginable. Reading just isn’t our thing. For others of us, reading is part of our ideal weekend. Regardless of where you stand, Scripture is for you.
Our Avoidance and God’s Preservation
Early on in college, I approached the Bible as more of a textbook rather than the living and active Word of God. This approach led to it becoming dull in my eyes, and my heart becoming numb to its truths. Our perception of Scripture’s nature affects how we approach it. Thankfully, as opposed to a deistic perception of God, the God of the Bible does not leave His children in despair and ruin. When we fall and, even, ignore God for a time, He still promises to bring the good work that He began in us to completion (Phil 1:6).
Scripture’s True Nature
Scripture is glorious. It is not a book we can simply rate on Goodreads and move on from. I mentioned that true love considers something’s true nature, but if Scripture’s true nature is glorious and we fail to behold that glory, how can we love it rightfully? The answer lies in whether we are willing to pray for God to soften our hearts and humbly cry out as a father did to Jesus after witnessing a demon overtake his son, saying, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). It is only when I became broken over my hardness of heart that the Lord graciously removed the veil from over my eyes when reading Scripture.
Beholding Scripture’s Glory
One of God’s means to help me see Scripture’s glory was a class on the “inextricable connection between worship and ethics.” I know, quite the title. I realized my view of Scripture became distorted because my understanding of worship was all wrong. Worship was in a box full of spiritual disciplines like prayer and personal Bible reading, but what about the other 90-95% of my day doing school, working, eating, spending time with friends, or listening to music? That was different because I limited the effects of Christ’s work on the cross, and, by default, worship to that same measure. When my understanding of worship became wholistic and all-encompassing, the lens by which I viewed the world became enriched, and God’s Word became enchanting, captivating, and alive.
Acknowledging Love’s Complexities
Still, we will not always love Scripture as we ought. We may be tempted to avoid it when it becomes difficult to understand or when we experience the effects of sin. In our anger, idolization, laziness, or confusion, our hearts can become cold and numb towards God. When that temptation arises, let us ask ourselves, who else holds the words of eternal life (John 6:68)? Let us resist digging ourselves deeper into a pit of sin when sin is the very thing we are trying to escape. May God’s unconditional and inseparable love keep us from losing sight of Scripture’s glory so that we can render it as most valuable and constantly pursue it until Christ’s return.
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