Reading the Bible - WIIFM?

The Bible is made up of many books with many stories but it is also one book and one story. In the same way as your life is one story- one life- but made up of many experiences. Have you ever remembered something from the past and had the feeling that it happened so long ago as to be another life? Have you ever thought, "Did that really even happen, or am I inventing memories?" Because it is so far removed from your present circumstances, it seems disjointed and unrelated. So many things shift over the course of your life: your age and experience certainly, but also your environment, and the people who play major and even minor roles in your story. However, where you are today has much to do with your history, down to those same stories that now seem irrelevant. From the moment of your conception you have a purpose in this life. Understanding your purpose is possible with a little focused attention.

Where is the Bible in all of this, you ask? Think about it this way: have you ever read a book (any book) and found yourself somewhere in the final chapters needing to flip back to an earlier scene to recheck a detail that was mentioned but at the time seemed less important? This is something I find myself doing all the time. (It is one of the reasons why I can’t bring myself to read e-books. I'd get so lost I'd never be able to find what I needed or pick up where I left off!)

This is a personified application of finding meaning and understanding in the Bible. Understanding the Bible fully REQUIRES flipping back and forth. The Bible, page by page, can’t be fully appreciated. Some may feel that the New Testament is, on the whole, far more engaging because it centers around Jesus and the style of writing along with parable story telling seems more applicable to life today! (Isn't there just a lot of "So-and-so begat what's his name," and rules -oh, the rules! - in the Old Testament? Well there is that, but there is so much more, and understanding lineage and how the rules came about is quite germane to the story. Don't forget in the very beginning there was only one rule.)

Moreover, you begin to see a much bigger picture when you understand today’s humanity through the lens of the Old Testament. How often in your own experience do you find yourself playing the blame game when things don't go exactly as you expected? The very first story in Genesis has Adam blaming both Eve and God, and Eve blaming the serpent. Have you ever felt envy because someone else got greater recognition than you? Has that envy ever turned to anger, and the feeling you were wronged somehow? This is the story of Cain and Able. It may not be pleasant to see ourselves in these stories but we can- I certainly have, much to my chagrin. On the other hand, have you ever stayed faithful in spite of the hardships you've faced in life? So did Joseph and Job. Reading these stories gives us an ability to see where our own decisions may lead.

Using one more analogy, let's compare the Bible to an artistic masterpiece: a painting or a symphony. If you look at only a small part of a painting it may be beautiful on its own, but you can’t fully appreciate the magnificence unless you step back and see the whole thing. Listening to a symphony, you may not even fully recognize all the layers or pieces it contains. But if you removed even one instrument the piece would have a hollowness that you could not even articulate. It might still sound nice but it fails to be a masterpiece without that facet. That is the Bible, and understanding comes from the whole book in its entirety. Reading and applying the stories, however abstract, to the message God is sending you, you begin to see the masterpiece contained in you. You begin to discover your purpose.