On Repeat

 

Hey, Cobblestone,

     How much Bible are you reading? Straight up, no fooling – you don’t have to post your answer anywhere that anyone  but the Lord will see, but I sure hope you can be honest with yourself. How much? And compared to other sources of input, how does that amount stack up?

     My study Bible has a really helpful introduction to each book of Scripture, which is one major reason I chose that particular edition for study. As I was reading the introduction to Ephesians lately, I saw again the mention of a curious theory held by some modern Bible scholars: Paul didn’t write Ephesians. “Curious” is the kindest word I can think of – “baloney,” or a couple other b-words, would be a better fit. To be clear, the authors and editors of my study Bible don’t accept the theory, or else I’d still be looking for a good study Bible. How many solid doctrines does a Bible reader have to throw away, anyway, to buy non-Paul authorship of Ephesians – beginning with the inerrancy of Scripture? No thanks.

     It would be fair for you to ask at this point, dear Church: on what have I based my unveiled rejection of the theory? Well, it isn’t my many semesters of Bible school – I haven’t had as much of that as I would like, and not nearly enough to go duking it out with legit Bible scholars. And the other thing it certainly wasn’t: my first reading of Ephesians. After reading the intro in the study Bible again, I cruised into the letter itself, trying to imagine what it would be like to be seeing it for the very first time. How much of it would I get? How much would confuse me more than I already was? The only honest answers were, in order: not much, and a whole lot.

     The only substitute for familiarity in Scripture is divine revelation, and – maybe you’ve noticed, as I have – the Lord does approximately one hundred percent of his revealing through familiarity. I’m tempted to theorize that the prophets and apostles themselves didn’t get what they wrote until coming upon it again and again afterward. Good questions to ask when we get to heaven, don’t you think? Meanwhile, familiarity seems to be a thing.     

     If you’re willing to do the same exercise I did with the study Bible, here’s a snippet from Ephesians – try to imagine reading it for the first time:

    For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come  (Ephesians 1:15-21).

     Is that all one sentence? Yep. And did you notice it’s a prayer? A prayer for what? Well, quite a lot actually. Which parts of the prayer will be most helpful right now – I mean, today, Friday? How would you know without some familiarity? It’s too much to take in all at once – and that’s OK. I’m old enough, finally, to understand that the Father never meant for us to get it all the first time around.

     Read your Bible, Church. That’s the simplest and most helpful thing I can say with this week’s letter. Put God’s infallible word on repeat. Get familiar with Scripture. Connect the dots through frequent encounter. If you don’t understand the first time through, or the hundredth, pray for understanding for the next time… or the time after that.

     Familiarity with Scripture builds a depth of spirit that can’t be had by any other means. Knowing what God has done in history and creation is the best way to know what he is doing and will do – he is the one who works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11) – over and above what anyone else and everyone else is doing. Can’t figure the world out? Depth of spirit gives your mind and heart room to gain understanding – or to be OK with not figuring it out for now.

     As a child of the Great Depression, my dad was often astounded when he saw people in more recent decades choosing junk food over nourishing meals – they were “starving to death in the land of plenty,” he would say. Christians in this decade, more than any other, face a challenge in choosing what nourishes our souls. Sex and candy, it’s been said, always sell. Same goes for fear, cynicism, insult, promiscuity, and hopelessness.

 Let’s not starve ourselves for the good.

  

Grace and Peace (through the promises of Scripture),

 

John