Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Bible is the Code


Even though I believed in my power to figure things out intellectually, there was always something deeper I could not understand.  It turned out to be spiritual.  But what was the way to satisfy and nurture this part of my being?

I tried several New Age ideas, as well as, oriental ones.  I wound up with a mish-mash of things, taking only the things I liked or proved to have some sort of power behind them.  Still, I remained unsatisfied because none of these lasted more than a few months before I moved on to something else.

I finally wound up with no idea what to do or where to go.  I still did not go running to the Bible at this point because life was at least good on a physical and mental level.  Emotionally it was not good, but despite how angry and disgruntled I felt, I did not feel off compared to my friends and acquaintances.

No, the Bible had made no sense before and I did not expect it to, ever.  But one night at mom’s when we stayed up really late talking; she said I should try reading the Gospels.  She even pulled out a Bible and handed it to me.  I actually did not feel offended or pushed into having to read it by her actions.  Good thing because I already had a huge dislike for Bible Thumpers.  I’ve learned over the years that I don’t always want to do what mom says, but most times she just suggests and lets us barrel our way through to prove her wrong or right.  I chuckle a lot now knowing she was usually right even if I still don’t always agree with her.

So now I had a Bible in my hands and I had no idea what she meant by the Gospels other than it had to be some of the books in the Bible.  That left me with the honest question of, “Which books are those?”  I remember only two weeks in vacation Bible school and two or three Sundays in church my first eighteen years.  I remembered some Bible stories that most seem to know if they heard anything about the Bible at all, but nothing much beyond that.

Mom replied, “The first four books of the New Testament.”

Okay, I understood that much.  “Any set order I should read them in?”  I’m the nerdy, studious type with anything I delve into and like to tackle it systematically.

“Just start at the beginning.”

So that’s what I did after a good night’s sleep.  This time it made far more sense to me and did not come across as some far-fetched story written to impress me into believing in Jesus.  There were plenty of examples of the right way to live along with all those miracles and things that I honestly was still not entirely sure of.  I already knew I was off base with my lifestyle and the way of Jesus proved it all the more.

This time around it made enough sense I wanted to go to church with Mom the next day.  Last time I stepped into a church on a Sunday I felt like I walked into some place where people went through the motions in hopes of something changing.  It felt like a different trapping trying to do the same thing I had done with New Age ritualistic ideas.  What was the worst that could happen if I walked into another church on a Sunday?  I jokingly told my mom that even if I had to sit through Sunday school too, that I doubted the building would fall in on us if I walked in with her.

Now here is how the Holy Spirit is awesome with how he sets a trap for you.  I mean that in the best way because God is awesome to the point of knowing exactly what will get your attention: when, how, and why.  What I read in Matthew and a good portion of Mark that struck me as good ideas was built upon by what the class had to study for this Sunday.  I was like, “Okay, this is proving most interesting.”  What blew things away was how the sermon added another building block.  No human force can take mom’s choice of what I should read in the Bible, what came out as the main points in a Sunday school class and a preacher’s sermon and line them up like the perfect laying of a foundation.  Only God can pull off such a feat, so by the time the pastor made an altar call at the end, I was a weeping mess.

Now it was grandma that got the honor of walking with me to the altar at her gentle encouraging.  During the service my mom had been doing duty as an usher, so she was not able to attend to me alone.  As the pastor walked me through the sinner’s prayer and my acceptance of Jesus as my savior, I could barely speak due to the emotions that made me cry pretty hard.  Then God made it feel even more remarkable by making me feel like power shot through my whole body and I was being pulled up even as I felt too weak to stand.  I still laugh remembering that when I finally could not take this moment with Him any longer, I begged to be allowed to go grab a Kleenex.  This blew the socks off any power I felt in any New Age ritual I had ever done.  Believe me there was power there, but God rules and He proved it to me that day.  The choice was made and I was hooked.

Ever since that day I’ve been an avid studier of the Bible knowing that each nugget I get out of it is truth that improves my relationship with Jesus.  That is what it is really about.  Without the ever growing relationship with Jesus, Christianity might as well be another set of man-made rituals that make us think we are getting somewhere that we really aren’t.  It is a long road, but well worth the goal at the end, eternity with Jesus.  I’m a work in progress, but God always completes what He starts.  So here I am still on that road ten years later and never wanting to stray from it, but learning when I do.

To me BIBLE stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  I did not make this up myself, but when I heard it for the first time I latched on to the idea.  The Bible is truly our code for a life well lived while here on earth.  One that will lead to an eternity and a hope we can cling to as if we can already see, feel, smell, hear and taste already.  We only have it based on our faith, but it seems more tangible by the day.

I started this blog because I feel the desire to share what I have learned on my walk with Jesus.  I’m sure it will show where I didn’t get it right and maybe not getting it entirely right yet.  So take it from a work in progress, I think you will get something out of this whether you are ready to agree with me or not. All I ask is that you take the time to think about what I write and why it makes you feel the way you do before making any quick answers or judgments.