Reverence for His Word

I'm sometimes stuck by the casual way people approach the Bible.  To be fair, I try to think back to the way that I once approached the Bible.  However, honestly, I don't remember ever coming to the scriptures in an informal disposition.  I was more casual than I probably should have been, and I was often looking for a way for it to meet my needs - rather than seeking God in every line.  Now that I read the Bible reverently, understanding that it is God Himself that speaks these words and knowing their transforming power, I am offended when someone does not value His words.

When my husband decided that he needed his own Bible, we went to the Christian bookstore and scanned the aisles for the one that he would like the best.  I wasn't sure what kind of reaction he would have to all of the Bibles, and ultimately to the one he would choose.  It's understandable that someone would be uncertain what to get when standing in front of so many different translations and types of Bibles.  When he finally decided on the right type and design, his hands smoothed over the covers as he soaked in that this was his Bible.  It was such a precious moment.

Yet the Bible is not just about the cover, type or translation.  The Bible's transformative value is inside.  It is when people have access to it and ignore it or take it for granted that my soul aches.  You have the words of God in your hands...you hold the truths to the universe, our existence, and the explanation for everything in our world in your hands...you have access to the power that can transform your life in a way you can't yet understand and still...the desire to seek it out, the desire to spend your evening reading it, the desire to spend time in it rather than doing something trivial is nearly absent.

I don't want to come off self-righteous in this.  Absolutely I have had times when I've chosen to do something ridiculous rather than read the Bible or worship God.  You bet.  It has and will happen.  However, ultimately, the Bible is a part of my regular diet in life - and I don't rely on someone else to spoon feed it to me.

My salvation is ultimately my responsibility - as is yours.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7

It does not say 'have someone else try to figure out what you want to know; have someone else seek out your answers; have someone else knock on the door for you....and then you will be grateful and receive all you need.'  That's just silly.

The difficult thing is that when someone you love so dearly is not truly asking, seeking, or knocking there is little you can do but continue to provide whatever they do desire, at whatever level of dedication, however great or small.

The appropriate way to approach the Bible is with reverence.  I cannot think of a better way or a way more plain to put it.  To me, reverence is respect; it is awe; it is love and understanding.  There is nothing casual in reverence; nothing disrespectful; nothing presumptuous.

God in His great grace, love, and faithfulness answers us in our unworthy approach to Him.  But that is what discloses our sin.  It does not deem us worthy or our approach acceptable.  The more we understand that His grace and forgiveness answers us even in our disrespectful ways should propel us to more reverently approaching Him.  That leads to a deeper understanding of God.  Let us not be ungrateful, disrespectful children to the Almighty God.