Sometimes it feels as if there are as many opinions about the Bible as there are people on earth. People quote truths from the Bible that makes me wonder where they found it, because it is often the opposite of what I had read.

I know we should allow one another space, because each of us looks at the Bible through a different lens and sees things differently. We must realise that our education, our parents, our friends, the church where we worship, and many other things shape the lens through which we look at the Word of God. The lens we use determine the image we see and the message we get.

And sometimes the lens is not that effective. I wear glasses and I do not always notice that the lenses are dirty. I must first take off my glasses to see that it is not clean. The dirt distorts and dulls reality. In the same way, the lens through which I look at the Bible is dirty and I must take off my glasses and clean the lenses to get a clear image of God’s Word again.

This implies introspection. Maybe it’s time to go and see the optometrist to make sure your glasses are still OK. Every time I leave the optometrist with new glasses the town hall and the oak trees look so clear and then I say to myself: Oh, is that what it actually looks like?

We all have a responsibility to make sure that we look at God’s Word with the right eyes. This is where it starts: We must acknowledge that God is speaking through his Word. In a way, as time went by, God’s Word lost its Godly character – and that is how many people treat it nowadays. I often wonder if God is still involved in the way that we interpret his Word.

Let’s all start at the same point of departure: The Bible is God’s words. It was inspired by God and therefore it has a Godly nature. May the following be said about us too: ¹³And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!

Yes, it is really the Word of God. Therefore, when we are busy with God’s Word, we must treat it as God’s words. Therefore, it is holy. Therefore, we have respect and therefore, we have a responsibility to treat it right. This is an enormous responsibility, because we influence all those people in whose lives we may be playing a role. We don’t want to give them dirty glasses, do we?

We must make space for his Spirit to help us see clearly. Fortunately, we are not alone: ¹³… God himself at work in you believers!

May this be true of your and my life. May we have more than opinions about God, and may we really get to know Him through his Word. May we be changed when we reach the other side, because we have personally met the author of the Bible among the words.

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

Reflection

Do you regard the Bible as God’s words?

With what lens do you look at the Bible?

How do you see your responsibility to live the Bible in the streets?

Prayer

Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you that we may get to know You better through it. Please help us to fulfill our responsibility to show the people out there what is in your Word. Amen.