Why I Didn’t Enjoy Reading The Bible For Years…But Now I Can’t Stop
I have read the Bible faithfully since I became a Christian at the age of 8, but sadly, for most of my life I saw it as a book of rules that I had to try my hardest to obey. In fact, this is the way I viewed the Bible until just over 2 years ago.
I didn’t know this at the time, but looking back on those years, now that I have a fresh perspective, I realize that I basically read the Bible to put in my time – you know, out of duty. I was convinced God wasn’t going to be happy with me if I didn’t.
But thank God, when He set me on this journey of grace two and a half years ago, He also helped me see the Bible through the lens of His grace. Reading it this way opened up a whole new world to me. I suddenly began to see the Bible as a book full of promises – promises that Jesus had fulfilled on my behalf that I could begin to walk in.
Because of legalism in my own personality I had been blinded to the truth that the Bible was all about Jesus and the fact that He wanted to have a living, vibrant relationship with me! The scary thing is, I was blinded to this as a Born Again Christian for 34 years.
This leaves me wondering how many other Christians may also be confused about what Christianity is really all about. I am committed to spending the rest of my life helping others see the truth about God and His grace as I continue to receive more and more of it for myself through my own Bible study!
Now that my whole outlook has changed I just LOVE to read and study the Bible. I can’t get enough of this good news and I definitely want to spend the rest of my life finding out what’s in this love letter from God to humanity!
You may already know this, but there are a ton of Bible study tools available to help you understand the Bible more clearly. Today I want to tell you about one that Steve and I just recently purchased in case it interests you.
It’s called Andrew Wommack’s Living Commentary. We purchased this recently and used it for the first time a few days ago.
We had the best time studying the Bible with it in the car as Steve continued to drive us home from vacation and I read to him. I read several chapters of several different books of the Bible and then looked at Andrew’s notes to see what he had to say (including the Greek meaning of certain words). It was fascinating. His notes showed us so many truths that we had never thought of before.
One thing I like about it is that Andrew constantly backs up his personal notes with other scripture references that go along with his notes. Steve and I spent hours studying what probably equalled 2 chapters of the Bible because Andrew had so many notes and scripture references to go along with them.
Before purchasing this, I watched a video about Andrew’s Living Commentary on his website. He explained that he gave it that name because he is constantly adding to his notes. This commentary is used inside of WORDsearch so whenever I open my WORDsearch program, if Andrew has added new notes, they automatically update.
Here is an example of one of Andrew’s notes under The Introduction To Ephesians:
“A true understanding of Christianity does not begin by doing but begins with what has been done. We are invited to sit down and enjoy all that God has done for us in Christ. We are to rest in Him. It’s only from this revelation that true works of faith spring; otherwise practical Christianity can turn to the works of the law, a danger that Paul himself warned us about (Ephesians 2:15) and (Galatians 3:3).”
That one revelation right there could revolutionize the lives of so many Christians if they got it. How many are working to earn a right to enter God’s rest instead of focusing on Jesus’ finished work, resting in it and then watching good works spring from their life of resting in Christ (trusting in His finished work).
Here is another verse and note on that verse from Andrew’s Living Commentary:
Bible Verse:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1 – NASB)
Andrew’s Living Commentary:
Note 4 at Ephesians 1:1: In Christ Jesus was a descriptive phrase used forty times in the New Testament, sometimes meaning through Christ. Generally speaking, this phrase implied a vital union with Christ. Just as the life of a root is found in the soil, or a branch in the vine, or a fish in the sea, so the believer’s true life is found to be in union with Christ.
Isn’t that awesome!
As Steve and I continued to study Ephesians chapter 1, Andrew had three different notes for verse 3 of that chapter. Then within those three notes he had references to 16 verses that you can see by simply hovering your cursor over the verse. All that on one verse!
There’s simply no end to the fun you can have while reading and studying the Bible when you read the Bible, not as a book of rules but as a love letter from God to you and when you have the right Bible study tools. You will find yourself becoming completely lost in God’s Word!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom