My mom bought me The Tony Evans Bible Commentary for my birthday last year. This thing is huge. I was super excited to go through it but was nervous because of how thick it was. I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand what was being talked about because of all the commentary in it.
I mean you bible scholars out there, man… kudos!
I know the bible is good for us, and we discover God in new ways by reading it, but unless there was a bible study that went along with the scripture, I had a hard time digging into it the way I hear others do. It may me feel some type of way because when I hear speakers preach on the word God gave them through scripture, I felt like I was missing out.
Of course, I was, but I still couldn’t find myself getting it the way I heard others have. This morning, I woke up and was on my phone getting ready to read another romance novel, yes, I know… but hey, I’m reading ok… and I heard the Lord say, spend some time with Me.
Of course, I was like as soon as I finish this chapter, I’ll get right on it.
That must have been enough for Him because I thought to myself, I wonder what He wants me to read.
He says, John. I’m like, ok, John it is. I wonder what’s in John God wants me to know.
Well, I finish the chapter of the romance novel and bring out the bible that my mom bought me. To my surprise, this bible is exactly my way of understanding what I am reading. It breaks it down into laymen’s terms and reads like we’re having a conversation about the bible. My question was answered in the first few sentences of reading John.
What got me excited is I usually tell myself, I’ll read one chapter and write down what I got from it. When I was finished with the 1st chapter, I wanted to keep reading. I finally found a way to read the bible that keeps me captivated.
So, after I read it, I was quiet and asked the Lord what He wanted me to share, and He says:
Now is not the time to turn from Me
Do not be distracted by what’s going on around you
Now is the time to get to know Me like never before
I want the long-term relationship
I want you to discover new things about me that you had no idea about
Get to know how I move and operate
When you shift your mind and focus on Me, things become clearer for you
You no longer have to guess if this is something you should be doing, you know because you’re connected to Me,
In Me, you find rest
In Me, you find light in the darkness
In Me, you experience things you never have before
Get closer to Me
Don’t put me on the back burner because you feel like you have time, remember life is but a vapor
Open your hearts to Me
I’m knocking, will you let me in
I’ll be honest, this time at home has me being lazy. I wake up, eat, lay down, eat, read, eat, lay down, eat, watch TV, repeat. I haven’t been spending time with the Lord as I should and He has let me know my priority right now should be Him.
With all this so-called time on our hands, what better way to use it than to spend it with the Lord. The One who created us loves us unconditionally and holds the whole world in His hands.
As the bible put it, “Our God fully experienced what it is like to be human – yet without sinning (Hebrews 4:15). He faced hunger, pain, temptation, grief, hardship, and rejection You face no category of human experience that your Saviour has not endured.”
What I learned from reading John, is that God has already been through everything that we have experienced this far. He understands every single emotion we’ve gone through and will go through, who better to help us than Him.
