Settle In…

Last post I began to write about the Christian life being more like a marathon than a sprint. You began your “race” by telling at least one friend that you have committed your life to Jesus Christ – you received Him as Lord and Savior – and you are now seeking to follow Him in all of life’s parts.

Now we can settle in to the longer “body” of the race. Again the Apostle Paul writes that we need to be transformed and that happens by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:1-2) The renewal of the mind leads to new actions too.

Read Bible

If you have started reading the Bible, and you are getting a good bit out of it with what you are reading, then continue on with what you have been reading. But if you aren’t sure where to begin, may I suggest you begin with reading the Gospel of John. The first four books of the New Testament are the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are named after their authors. John was written to folks that did not have a Jewish background and upbringing and is perhaps the best choice to begin with for folks without a Jewish background. John records things in a way that helps us to “see” past just the physical universe and on into “eternity” so to speak, and how Jesus is the primary player in all of that.

If you have a Jewish background, then beginning with the Gospel Matthew may be a more appropriate place to start, especially if you personally place a good deal of emphasis in your spiritual life to your Jewish traditions and lineage.

Regardless, continue reading your Bible at least a little bit every day. Don’t rush through reading the Bible. This is where the race analogy is not helpful. Let God “speak” to you from the pages of the Bible. He will. “Listen” closely. Ponder and meditate on the different metaphors it uses and the topics it addresses. You have already begun to think on these things when we spoke of “receiving” Jesus and “believing” in Him. Try to grasp the flow of thought by the author. And if the version of the Bible you are reading from has footnotes and/or section headings, try ignoring them for now. They are not part of the original text when the books of the Bible were written. Those section headings may be helpful, and maybe not. So just ignore them for now. And the same thing goes for chapter divisions. Some are very good, but some make us cut off some important material in our thinking that is part of the flow of thought the author was sharing in the previous chapter(s). You’ll get better at this the more you read the Bible. That’s like the athlete gets better at his/her sport the more they practice and compete.

One other thing I’ll include for this post as you read your Bible. Take notice if the writer shares 1) a promise from God to “receive” and “live into”; 2) an activity or way of thinking that is presented in such a way that we should embrace that activity or thinking and make it part of who we are; make it part of our lives; and 3) an activity or way of thinking that is presented in such a way that we should REMOVE it from our lives and NOT engage in those activities or ways of thinking. As mentioned in a previous post, the Bible calls that “repentance.” We change our minds, and that leads to us changing our actions. No change in actions indicates we did not change our mind. That in turn reveals that we have not really repented, even though we may say we have.

To give a brief example of this way of reading your Bible, when I was first being drawn to God, I went to church every Sunday. In the Anglican tradition then, and it is still this way in some places, I heard four very brief passages of the Bible said every week. One of those is from Matthew 11:28 that read “Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heaven laden, and I will refresh you.” I remember thinking, “I don’t know how to come to You Jesus. Please teach me and I’ll try my best.” There was something I hadn’t been doing – other than just going to church – but I knew I needed to change that.

So… did you actually tell someone of your receiving Jesus Christ at your Lord and Savior? If not, try really hard to get that done soon. Acts 1:8 records Jesus as saying, “…you will be my witnesses…” so the question is, will we be a good witness or a bad witness. He saved you and me from an eternity in hell – I’m sure we all want to be good witnesses.

And have you found a church to maybe get involved with? I know that will take some time to get to know them and see how they handle the Bible. If you have found one you think may be good, talk to the pastor about membership, and if you have never been baptized, ask about that too. I’ll cover more on that in a future blog. (Maybe the next one!)

God bless you in your continuing walk in your new life in Christ. To God be the glory!