Written by Brian Hattery
Reading the Bible can be hard. You have to set aside time from your To-Do List. Some parts don’t make sense. Some parts can be boring. It takes dedication to continuously read it. Have you read the whole thing? That can really take dedication. And then, when you’ve read it all, there’s nothing new in there. So why keep reading it?
A Riddle
Have you ever heard this riddle?
“I have 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs at noon, and 3 legs in the evening. What am I?”
I remember first reading this riddle as a child in a game I was playing. I couldn’t move on in the game until I answered it. And being that it was the time before the internet and smart phones, I was forced to struggle for the answer on my own. But I eventually did figure it out.
The answer: A man.
A person crawls on all 4 hands and knees as a baby (morning), walks upright on 2 legs through most of their life (noon), and uses a cane (a 3rd leg) to help walk as they get older (evening).
A Shadow
A shadow is created when an object blocks light (typically the sun), leaving darkness in the shape of the object blocking the light. As the sun moves, the shadow moves, which can cause the shadow to change shape as the light of the sun hits different parts of the object. But even as the time of day changes and the shadow changes shape, the object remains the same.
In the same way, scripture doesn’t change. The Word of God remains the same, always.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and was God.” –John 1:1
“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” –Hebrews 13:8
But as time goes by, we change. We change not only physically, like the man in the riddle, but can change mentally and emotionally, also. As we age, we have different experiences and enter different stages of our lives. And because we change, scripture can impact us differently. Though the words remain the same (the object), they can have a different meaning to us (the shadow). We must keep reading because God can continually speak to us through His Word, even the same scriptures we’ve read a dozen times before.
And we can hear the admonition of the Spirit nearly every Sunday: “If you will read My Word…” “Get into My Word…” “Let My Word change you…”
These encouraging words align with scripture: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” –Romans 12:1-2
Through the reading of His Word, we can hear from Him, and renew ourselves, no matter what we are experiencing in life.