Hope

The Word of God frees us from the entrapment of sin so that we may put our trust in Christ, the hope that will not fail.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

Reading and meditating upon the Bible provides the Christian with the nourishment to live abundantly. Many live under the assumption that they know the stories, they remember the correct answers, and thus conclude that the Word is not enough to sustain them when trials come. But such passive awareness of the truth is not life-giving. Through the Word, God reminds us of the great depth behind the simple words we may remember.

As we read of the passion of Christ, we are told of how our Lord Jesus - the kindest, most loving, and utterly sinless man - on a day in history hung on a Roman cross of torture and execution in horrible pain. We will hear of the thief next to him who said, for some wonderful and inexplicable reason (for he was cursing at first), "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" (Luke 23:42). The Word reveals to us the grace of God that brought that change of heart. And we read on as our Lord answers, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). Here is a dying man declaring a life-long thief accepted and loved and heaven-bound. Here is a grace that sweeps a lifetime of guilt away in an instant. Here is a power that says death can hold neither you nor me. Here is an authority that decides who goes to heaven and who doesn't. Here is an immediacy that says it will happen this very day. No purgatory, no testing, no penance. Just absolute forgiveness and acquittal and cleansing and acceptance. The Word tells us of such wonders in such a way that eloquent men and catechism texts cannot attain. Our memorized summaries and even devotional books are no substitute for the living Word of God.

Have you not read?

Once we are convicted to read the Word, we must approach it in an appropriate manner. The Scribes and Pharisees have proven that there is indeed a wrong way to read the Scriptures. They were great readers of the law. Their studies were time-consuming and full of careful attention to detail. They recorded how many times a letter occurred, which verse, word, and chapter were in the middle of the Old Testament and other such useless information. In Matthew, Christ expresses his opinion of their learning.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

Matthew 12:1-5

Christ knew that the Pharisees had passed their eyes over the Scriptures numerous times yet still asked "Have you not read?" Jesus appears to be saying, "you do not understand, and therefore you have not truly read."

Be still and know that He is God

Along with a desire to understand, we must approach the Word with humility and reverence. Often our love for and faith in the Word is lacking. We must trust that the Word does more than just give us enough strength to survive. Rather, it feeds us that we may live abundantly. Often we look to other things in order to become more spiritual. We wait for that one special retreat, or encounter during worship, or receiving of a spiritual gift when throughout Scripture and the history of the church, God has used the written and preached Word to raise the spiritually dead and feed his people.

We are an impatient generation that wants flashy, instantaneous results and we neglect the ordinary means which God has appointed. We misunderstand the way that Elijah misunderstood the ways of God.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12

The Word requires reverential listening; listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We have trouble listening. We are a generation convinced that we have lots to say that other people should listen to. We spend most of our time, not listening, but waiting until it's our turn to speak. But God is telling us that we have nothing to say and that it's time to listen.

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