…for the first time?
Some time ago, maybe around Christmas, I prayed a little exasperated prayer that is now coming true. Chalk it up under the category, “Be Careful For What You Wish!” I asked God to be able to read the Bible as though I had not read it before. I asked that my mind would be like person who was not raised in a Christian home, did not attend a Christian school, and didn’t go to church nearly every Sunday of her life. What would reading the Bible feel like, intellectually and spiritually if I did not have that sort of…ummm…baggage?
Around mid-March, I started reading Acts. I read three chapters, then four, then more at every setting. Bang, I was done with Acts within 7 days! My attention span usually only held on for two chapters of Scripture reading at a time. Odd.
While I was reading Acts, I noticed so many more details, especially the recorded sermons of Paul and Peter. What were they saying? Was this like anything I had heard taught at church…cause this sure seemed funky to my mind.
One Sunday a few weeks ago, I sat down on Sunday night and read Romans straight through. I admit that I was in a snit with my pastor for yet again proof-texting his way through a 30 minutes of my precious time. I decided to just read the whole thing to get the gist of what Paul was saying to the Romans, not what ministers like to quote to make their theological points. Whoa! What was all that? Why do teachers flip over so much of this Letter? They probably realize how dangerous a portion of Scripture Romans is and conceal it from the sheep. Ahem.
I was catching on to what the Lord was obviously doing. He hit a reset button in my mind. Now, I did remember certain themes or verses when I came up to them, but I saw them as part of a whole. If you have ever seen a Monet painting in real life, you understand that you can’t stand too close to one, or else all you see is swirls and daubs of paint. Back up about 15 paces and you see the water lilies under a bridge. I am seeing the whole story now in an sort of scary, hanging on by my fingernails ride.
1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians are now done, again each read in one day. I don’t know how long this grace will last. I will keep reading until either He says stop…or I get my Christian memory back. I hope it isn’t the latter.
Veiled Glory 