How To Read Scripture, Part 21

Scripture is of little value if we are not personalizing it. Information about the Bible is collected in the brain. Application of biblical truth penetrates the soul. This comes from asking yourself hard questions. Let’s analyze a very simple statement from the Lord Jesus found in the 12th chapter of Luke’s gospel. As Jesus was addressing a large gathering, a man from the crowd came up to Jesus and asked Him if He would be willing to settle a dispute about an inheritance between this man and his brother. Read carefully Jesus’ reply: “And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:14-15).

How much simpler could a statement be about what life does not consist of? Having meditated on this verse for quite some time, I started asking myself some hard questions. I wrote them in the margin of my Bible. If my life does not consist in the abundance of things, then why do I continue pursuing the abundance of things? How does my life reflect the fact that I don’t love the things of this world? If my life does not consist of what I have, then what does it consist of? Asking ourselves these types of questions is a good discipline to cultivate, as it forces us to grapple with the practical nature of the Word. It keeps us honest and plants seeds of truth for a future harvest. That's the way I see things.