When All Else Fails
Day 1
Many years ago, we had an accident with our family vehicle, and we needed to make a quick purchase to replace it. Over the years, we’ve owned all sorts of different vehicles but with this purchase, we bought a European brand which we never had before. The manufacturer had a reputation for being mechanically sound but found out later they struggled with electrical issues which we experienced with our vehicle. I began noticing times when I would put the car in reverse and the side mirrors would move on their own. I chalked it up to just another electrical issue but when I mentioned it to a friend, he suggested I check the owner’s manual. He thought it might have been an option on that car. After reading the owner’s manual I found out he was right. The mirrors were designed to tilt down to see the ground when backing up. Living in the Midwest, I chuckled and thought, doesn’t it snow where these engineers live?
A few years later, I bought a work car that I was hoping would be good on gas. After having it for a couple weeks, it started running very rough. I was upset, thinking that I had bought a car that had engine problems. When I started troubleshooting, I remembered it started running rough after I had filled the gas tank. I never had issues in the past with the gas station I used, so I began to wonder if the vehicle required higher octane gas. I pulled out the owner’s manual and sure enough, it required high octane gas. I was trying to buy something that would save money on gas but due to my lack of research, it ended up a wash because of the price of the higher octane gas that the car required.
A couple of years ago, my mom purchased a new vehicle. There was an option she had in her previous vehicle that she wanted in her new vehicle, and we started working with the dealer and a local company to get it installed. When my son found out about it, he told us to double check the owner’s manual. He had looked through the owner’s manual earlier and thought it had the option, but it just worked differently than what we were used to. Long story short, we discovered it already had the option.
I’m sure by this point you’re sensing a theme. It might be a guy thing, but when all else fails - read the directions. I think of the Bible as our owner’s manual to life. God has created life, He is the Designer, Engineer, and Manufacturer. He designed and set all this up, everything related to this world and our lives. He put it in motion and gave us His instruction manual – the Bible, to let us know how it works.
As we progress with this analogy, lets thank God for giving us direction and not leaving us alone to try and figure this all out on our own.
Reflection: Thank you, Lord, for the gift You’ve given to us in Your Word. Thousands of years of reading and teaching from it and we still discover new things. Give us a greater love and understanding for Your Word and a passion to dig into it and discover You more.
Scriptures:
Psalms 119 (multiple days)
Romans 15:4
Day 2
It’s very easy and natural to try to process things on our own and attempt to figure it out. Especially when it’s something we use all the time and have a lot of experience with. It’s natural to have an ‘I got this’ attitude. Every honest person knows what I’m talking about. I’ve owned a lot of different vehicles and drive a lot of different cars for work. Yet even though I work on our cars and am used to driving many different vehicles, I still fell victim to trying to operate and make decisions about machinery that I didn’t fully understand. I’m sure most of us have similar scenarios we can think of regardless of our gender.
Watching the news and social media, there are a lot of ideas on how life is supposed to work. Over recent years, these theories and philosophies have gotten more outrageous than the year before. There’s a lot of voices telling us how to live, how to think, how to talk, and how to treat others. Each voice contradicting the other and everyone thinking they are right, boasting of their wisdom and insight. Hebrews 4:12 / 2 Tim 3:16.
But I have to ask this question: when there is a question about life, about right or wrong, or how to live, have we consulted the owner’s manual? Have we asked the Maker? We can have the purest intentions and do what we think is right, but how can we know for sure? The Bible says that we shouldn’t lean on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. Going back to my work car, what would happen if I just filled the gas tank with tap water? It looks the same, smells better, and it sure would be a lot cheaper. What’s the difference? The auto manufacturers are just cooperating with the gas companies anyway and we don’t really need gas. While that sounds absurd, many do the same thing in life by ignoring what God has stated in His Word; the Bible and lean on their own wisdom. In my case, I found out that not only would water not have worked, but even using regular gas was not enough. The car needed premium gas because that is the way it was designed by the maker and their engineers, and I found out the hard way that it just isn’t going to run right without it. The manufacturer made it, and they should know.
If you are a parent, you probably leave instructions for the babysitter or for your kids when you leave for the evening. Did you just randomly come up with these instructions or was there a reason for them? Were you trying to make life difficult for the babysitter? Were you trying to ruin your kid’s evening? When you tell your kids not to use the stove or not to touch it when it’s on, did you think that touching a hot stove is enormously satisfying and you just didn’t want your kids to experience the euphoria that comes from 3rd degree burns? No, it is out of love, because you know the dangers. Stoves are awesome and provide a great service but can also be dangerous and it is up to the parents to establish the rules concerning it. There were a couple of times I caught my boys wrestling around on the stairs. I obviously told them to stop and explained that they could fall down the stairs and if it was on an escalator, that fall would last all day long. Ok, it’s an old joke but they didn’t know that. Was I trying to ruin their fun? No, I didn’t want them to hurt themselves.
Oh, how the Father loves us. He would not create us and this world and leave us alone to figure it out on our own. Throughout my lifetime, science and archeology have been finding out what the Bible has already been telling us for centuries about life, relationships, health, science, and even DNA. May we take His Word as more than just a history resource or collection of outdated morals, may we see it as a letter from a loving God to His creation – telling of who He is, His love for us, giving us instruction in life, explaining our origins, and telling us of our future.
Reflection: Lord, help us to see Your love in what we read. Give us a new perspective. Help us not to just skim through what we read, race through the familiar, or gloss over seems to be non-relevant. Help us to get beyond just checking off another box on our to do list and give us a greater appreciation for Your Word.
Scripture:
Psalm 119 (over multiple days)
Day 3
Let’s get practical - the Bible is a big book. Even having a goal to read through it in a year takes commitment. If I’m new to this and want to start reading the Bible, where do I start? In a casual read, some of it is pretty boring and some of it is hard to understand. Sometimes it seems to contradict itself and can get confusing. Is what I’m reading symbolic, or literal?
There are all sorts of resources available, and even different translations of the Bible which can add to the confusion. It can be easy to get overwhelmed so let’s keep it simple. Here are a couple of recommendations as we start:
· Find a translation that’s easy to read. The King James version is a beautiful translation to read if you are drawn to old English style literature, but it’s a hard read for most people and there are some accuracy issues with it in some places. Newer versions like the New International Version or New King James Version have a few accuracy issues as well but are easier to read. The Message and Passion translations are also easy to read translations with a modern feel. The New American Standard is regarded as being more accurate but a little harder to read. There are many more translations than these, this is just a high-level introduction. When I mention accuracy issues, most translations are accurate overall, so you’re not going to be led astray by picking the wrong one if its considered an accepted translation. There are also Bible apps that are available that have many translations in one app so you can try several different translations before purchasing a physical copy of the translation.
· If you are new to reading the Bible, start in the section called the New Testament. It’s toward the end of the Bible which is not normally where you would start a book, but it’s a good starting point for those who are new to it. All the Bible gives us wisdom and insight and it’s all necessary, but the New Testament is more practical for us as we begin to study and learn. At the beginning of the New Testament are the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). It’s good to start with these. The Gospels were written to different groups of people by men who were with Jesus and were personally taught by Him during His time on earth. In these Gospels, you will find the teachings of Jesus and a guide on how we should live our lives in many respects. It would be a good idea to read through the New Testament a couple of times before starting on the Old Testament.
· Find a church that teaches the Bible. A church can provide a great structure for growth. Some churches spend more time sharing from the Bible than others, so find a church that references the Bible frequently and has resources available to help in your growth. Some places will have classes called ‘New Believers’ class, ‘Discipleship’ or ‘Foundation’ classes. These are good places to start. There are different interpretations of what the Bible says, so it’s important that as you use these resources, you also study on your own. Don’t just take what a teacher or pastor says as definitive. For me, if there is something I have a question about, there are certain teachers or resources I will listen to, but I also study on my own and try to get a larger perspective on the subject from different viewpoints before coming to a conclusion. I also realize that I may be wrong, so I allow myself to be open to different perspectives in the future.
· Spend time in prayer. Head knowledge is awesome, and we need that to have accuracy and foundation in our beliefs. But when those times come when we don’t understand what we are reading, He can make that clear to us. There are other devotionals that are posted here that cover this in more detail, but don’t forget this aspect. We can read all the books about a celebrity or historical figure, but to actually know them is different and our relationship with God is to be just that – a relationship.
Our time here will not allow us to go into greater depth, but just know that as you read, there will be things that are hard to understand. When you come across those things, make note of them. Scripture can cover the same topic in different areas from different perspectives and may shed more light on it in another place. It’s important as we read, we take the whole of Scripture into account on any given topic. Error can come when we have a belief about something that is based on a single verse instead of the Bible as a whole. This is also why it is important to attend a good church with good teachers who are well studied and can share from the whole of Scripture when addressing a topic, etc.
There are many things that cry for our time, but we need to prioritize the things that have eternal impact and make our lives better. This is an investment in time that will pay much greater dividends than listening to what the latest influencers have to say. Wouldn’t it be better to know what God says?
Reflection: How powerful a concept that the Maker of all things has made it possible to learn from Him personally and directly. I could never get a meeting with any influencer, celebrity, or person in powerful standing – but I can with God. Thank You Lord and help me not to take this time and access for granted, but to take full advantage of it.
Scriptures:
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Acts 17:11
Matthew 4:4
Ephesians 6:17
Isaiah 55:11
Matthew 4:4
Romans 10:17