The Bible is like that kiss. It is a love story of God and his people. It is both simple and clear but also complicated and wrapped up in a story of human frailty covering centuries.
The story is about the call and promise made to Abraham. It is the story of salvation, the liberation from consequences of sin revealed in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The story covers almost 2,000 years leading to Jesus.
In its broadest sweep the story flows from Abraham to Moses to David and then to the prophets leading up to Jesus. It is a continual expression of God’s faithfulness and human ambivalence. The story moves from the promise of Abraham becoming the father of a great nation to Moses liberating the people on the way to the Promised Land. The era of David and the kings initiates the idea of thousand years along with the enlightenment of the prophets’ message always invitating us deeper into the mystery.
During this entire journey of Abraham’s family, the hope of the promise evolves in spite of the consistent and profound infidelity of the people. Likewise, there is a continual growth in understanding of who God is and what God wants. Finally, many centuries after Abraham, the people came to the singular awareness that there is only one God: the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob.
This story of the Bible, the story of Salvation, was put together by the people reflecting, sharing and praying about their experience of God. Most of the writings in the Bible are the conclusion of the community’s deep discernment of their encounter with God in their lives. This was a steady process of maturing where the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit directed the journey leading to Jesus, the final and complete Word of God in the flesh.
A centerpiece of this journey for God’s people was the Exodus: the liberation from slavery, the passage through the desert and the entry into the Promised Land. The power of this experience guided the people all through an often torturous history. Again and again, the children of Abraham reflected on the faithfulness of God setting them free. They found strength and fortitude in encountering the revelation of this God of the Exodus in their troubled plight.
The same is true of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This ultimate expression of God’s saving love has become the gateway to the new day, the New Exodus, in Christian history.
The central point of the story of salvation in the Bible is that the books in all their variety and depth are the result of the people’s experience of God. The power and significance of the Bible are that the same God of the Chosen people is in our life. The Word in the Bible is the light that enables us to encounter the reality of God’s continuing presence in our life. We are invited to participate in the call and promise, the pilgrimage through history to the kingdom of God. The gift of God’s Word in the revelation of the Bible is always a call to new life and new horizons.
Our approach to the Bible requires two distinct methods. One is to study the Bible to absorb the story and to grow in familiarity with the Word of God. This should be done prayerfully but basically it is an exercise of study. The second approach is the prayerful reading of the Scriptures. This task goes beyond the mind to the depth of the spirit within us. This is a truly different tactic. This has three points of importance:
1. To listen to what God has to say to me;
2. To learn God’s will;
3. To be more committed to walk with Jesus.
This is done in the context of our experience and especially of our problems both personal and in society. In this prayerful reading of the Bible, we need to encounter the Word as if it addressed to us personally.
Always be aware that the text is more than a fact. It is a symbol, a window that lets us see the past as a mirror of today’s experience. This prayerful reading of the Word of God needs to lead us into our present historical reality to unveil the mystery of God’s saving presence right here and now.
“The Word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely; it can slip though the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.”( Hebrews 4:12-13.)
At the heart of the Bible’s story of salvation is the call. From Abraham to Jesus the call is always a central part of the message. As the clarity of the message evolves, the call finally is be one with God. This union with God is the shared and final destiny of all God’s children.
As we steadily become aware of how God is clearly and convincingly in our lives, there are consequences for us. God always wants more and is working to transform us in the image of his Son. This call to change is never easy.
The Word of God is indeed a two edged sword that opens up part of our life we work hard to keep hidden. We are called by the Word expressed in the Bible and also in our life experience to be the seed that falls into the ground to die only to sprout to new life and bear the fruit of God’s kingdom by our surrender to God’s call.
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