"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want.
John 5.39-40, The MSG
A scripture like this really has, I think, a bit of humor to it when it's read from a daily Bible reading program that's main emphasis is reading the Bible on a daily basis because the Bible is very important.
Taken out of context it stands alone as this very vague passage of scripture, interestingly enough truth rings very heavy in this passage for me. To be honest I struggle with this side of the gospel. I love the side of the gospel that encourages generosity, champions social justice, requires peace and tolerance. You know the side of the gospel that you can talk about easily in a group of people because it's comfortable to. When you talk about your church building water wells or sponsoring sports teams, people inside, outside or on the fringes of Christianity say, "That's cool man," or "sounds like an awesome thing." I can handle that side of the gospel, but the side I struggle with is the side that says Jesus has the life that you really really want.
I struggle with this because its easy to read a OYB, or to participate in set up teams or service and bask in my own little pride. I sing of course Jesus loves me, this I know, because my Bible I read more than you tells me so.
You know the spiritual disciplines are important, reading the word is very important. But this relationship with Jesus, a visceral relationship with Jesus is the only way to get the life we really want.
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