A Good Read

One of my absolute favourite things is reading.

 

I can happily lose myself in a good book for hours on end.  I love how I can get lost between the pages.  I love the vivid descriptions of places which carry me away.  I love the detailed depictions of characters, which are so realistic, it is as if I know them as real people.

 

I have been reading a really good book over the last few days and am just pages from the end, but I've been deliberately reading slowly, longing for it to last a little bit longer because I'm enjoying it so much.

 

There are very few books that I will read over and over.  I tend to think there are so many I want to read, why waste my time?  But there are some which I will happily lose myself in again and again and again because I love them so much.

 

I was talking with a friend the other day about our attitude to reading books and reading the Bible and how different they often are. 

 

Often we can feel reluctant to read the Bible, because we feel that we've read bits of it before.  Some of us have even read the whole thing before.  We know what happens.

 

But when we read the Bible, it is not so much reading a book as entering into a conversation.  Each time we come to read it and re-read it and re-re-read it, it speaks to us in a different way.  Different words and verses and passages stick out and resonate with us when we had simply skipped over them in the past.  New meanings and implications strike us with every reading.

 

Because it is the living word of God.

 

"For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

[Hebrews 4:12 NIV]

 

 

When we read the Bible we are not just reading a dusty old book written by an ancient author.   We are reading the words of our living God, the creative author of our lives.

 

Now that's a good read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From The Squalor Of A Borrowed Stable

I'm a country gal, so I'm one of these people who simply loves the smell of a farmyard. 

 

However, whilst I love the smell whilst I'm out walking, it's not a smell I would like in my own home.  Far less, when I was giving birth.

 

We tend to have a preconceived, polished idea about the nativity scene: we send each other Christmas cards with an air-brushed Madonna and baby.  The shepherds and wise men are strategically placed to frame the newborn baby and the animals look as though they have just been washed and cleaned for the occasion.

 

But the reality is that Jesus was born in amongst the animals.  It would have been messy and smelly and dirty.  It wasn't a clinical, sterilised maternity ward with midwives on hand to ease this new mother's birth.

 

"[Mary] gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them."

 

[Luke 2:7 NLT]

 

When you think that God could have chosen to enter the world in any way possible, we must ask why He chose to be born in such dire conditions.  The circumstances of His birth are hardly the stuff of fairytale.  Nor do they suggest His true identity or royalty.

 

But I love that Jesus was born into a messy, dirty situation.

 

It reminds me that He lovingly steps into the mess of my life, too.  I don't have to 'clean up' or make myself tidy or 'presentable'.  I don't have to tidy the mess of my life before I can come before Him.

 

I don't have to pretend to be perfect, or go through some sort of ritual to make myself good enough to come into His presence. 

 

And what's more, I know that He understands what it means to live in messy conditions - both literally and metaphorically.  He can understand my struggles.

"This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

 

[Hebrews 4:15 NLT]

 

 

That's the kind of King I want.

 

 

 

Layers

I have just finished making a pass the parcel and it has brought back many memories.

 

The anticipation as the parcel makes its way towards you.  The question of whether to hold on to the parcel for the chance of getting to unwrap it, or to pass it as quickly as possible on to the next person.  The fear if it is one of those parcels with dares inside it.  The excitement as the paper gets thinner and thinner and the sweets in the middle seem ever closer.

 

I love unwrapping things and the idea of doing it layer by layer always intrigues me as the anticipation and excitement builds with each layer.

 

Sometimes I think God reveals aspects of Himself to us layer by layer.  If we were to experience all there is of God in one go, we wouldn't be able to cope.  We see stories in the Bible of people not being able to look directly at God because it is too much.

 

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 

But," he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

[Exodus 33:18-20 NIV]

 

As we listen to talks or chat with others about the goodness of God, we begin to develop a deeper understanding of who He is.  We begin to peel back more layers of His character.

 

And as we read the Bible, we experience the same thing.  The Bible describes itself like this - 

"For the word of God is living and active."

 

[Hebrew 4:12 NIV] 

 

That's how we can read the same passages in the Bible over and over and find something different each time.  That's how we can keep walking with God and not get tired, because there is always something new to discover.

 

There is always something new to uncover and reveal, because we are not learning finite facts, but are entering into a relationship with a living God.

 

There is always another layer.