Believe me when I say I did not intend for this to happen. But God does not go by what I think or by what I feel. So this morning I was being a good little girl and doing school like I should be. I picked up this book that Mamma bought me for school and it looked rather boring and not really very interesting so I was not excited to start reading it. Reluctantly I picked it up and started to read the preface and boy did I get a surprise! The book that so surprised me is The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey. It goes through Philip Yancey's journey of discovering the Old Testament and how it is a big part of the Bible. Unfortunately, as Christians we tend to lean more to the New Testament and pretty much ignore the Old.
"The knowledge of the Old Testament is fading fast among Christians and has virtually vanished in popular culture. In a comedy routine Jay Leno tested his audience's knowledge of the Bible by asking them to name one of the Ten Commandments. A hand shot up; "God helps those who help themselves?" Everybody laughed, but no one else could do better. Polls show that eighty percent of Americans claim to believe in the Ten Commandments, but very few can name many as four of them. Half of all adult Americans cannot identify the Bible's first book as Genesis. And fourteen percent identify Joan of Arc as Noah's wife.
More surprisingly, a Wheaten Collage professor named Gary Burge has found that ignorance of the Old Testament extends to the church as well. For several years Burge has been testing incoming freshmen at his school, a premier evangelical institution. His surveys show that students who have attended Sunday School all their lives, have watched innumerable episodes of Veggie Tales, and have listened to countless sermons, cannot identify basic facts about the Old Testament."
-Philip Yancey
Now this I must admit is not much of a shock, sadly. It makes me very sad to think that we are missing out on some of the most amazing and thoughtfully deep parts of the Bible because they make us uncomfortable or we just don't understand them. Now there are those few stories that we take from it like the story of Moses or Jonah and David or the Psalms and the Proverbs. But let's just be honest, we have not learned how to love or to search through it for the truths of Gods love toward a very stiff necked people. But are not we all stiff necked? Maybe we don't pass over most of the Old Testament intentionally, but we do it. And we are missing out on part of the story.
So what am I going to do about it? Well I have opened up my Bible to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 and I am going to start reading it all the way through Malachi.
Thomas Merton said,
For most people, the understanding of the Bible is, and should be, a struggle: not merely to find meanings that can be looked up in books of reference, but to come to terms personally with the stark scandal and contradiction in the Bible itself….
Let us not be too sure we know the Bible just because we have learned not to be astonished at it, just because we have learned not to have problems with it."
And so that is why I am not just reading through it; I am going to in my notebook start a new area call My Study of the Old Testament. I am going to start writing my own side notes and writing down my own discoveries from the Old Testament. I have to admit I am not really looking forward to the first seven books of the Bible but I am going to do this and maybe I will find something in there for me.
I will be posting about my journey through the Old Testament and I hope that I can give others the motivation to also dig in and start exploring the Old Testament on their own.
Kayln what a wonderful post and may it inspire others to join you in the depth and knowledge that God has placed in His word for us to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAs a Jewish believer I wanted to learn as much as could about the people Paul speaks so much about in the NT. I wanted to understand why my family and many like ours refuse to see Jesus as the Messiah. I wanted to know how I formed so much of my own beliefs before coming to Christ. I want to truly KNOW and not just hear about traditions or a culture of why we did the things we do as Jews. I wanted to understand God's heart in all of it.
Let's just say I was deeply touched and forever changed knowing whose I am and why He sent His Son so that it could all be made right for everyone!
Love and blessings to you and I'm praying you through the first seven books knowing they will draw you closer to God in ways you never imagined they would.
Think big story - what is the conflict and how is it going to be resolved - is it resolved and did the NT resolve it through Christ?
Think how is God going to speak to me about His love for me and His people.
I can't wait to hear more....
Jill
I love this post!! It is so important to know and understand the Old Testament...His aching heart for His people--the Jews--and how He eventually extended the invitation to be His children to all of us. We can know so much more of who God is by reading the Old Testament. Enjoy your studies!! I look forward to hearing what God shows you. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so encouraging and awesome! Thank you for sharing and inspiring others to do the same.
ReplyDeleteJen
I can't wait to follow your journey through the Old Testament. God's Word never disappoints; You will be richly blessed! I pray that your faith will be strengthened!
ReplyDeleteLori King
Hey! I just found yall's blog and let me just say, your family is beautiful! My family is a bit similar, I am one of 9 kids, 6 of whom are adopted (from the USA and Africa) It's always encouraging to find other families that are passionate about fulfilling James 1:27.
ReplyDeletethat is wonderful. I love so many promises from the Old Test.
ReplyDeleteI love Deut. I love Isaiah, I love digging into the promises, because He is the same yesterday today and forever.
I think you should be fine- they really think the cases affected are those scheduled for next week. We don't have a date as our case was left open and should be processed once the reopen.
ReplyDeleteJust keeps us where we need to be right?? Dependent on Him alone.
I love the old Testament. I was homeschooled... way back in the day when it wasn't necessarily legal :-) I learned to read from Genesis! I LOVE Isaiah. Some of the old T stories are so interesting. Beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteAngela
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