What is this?

As I read a few chapters in the Bible each day I ask two questions:

What do these verses tell me about God’s character?

What do these verses mean to me right now?

I didn’t really believe in God for 22 years. I knew about God, prayed to Him, had welcomed Jesus into my heart as a child, but had my doubts. I couldn’t understand a God who refused to let good people into heaven. That Jesus is the way, the truth, the life seemed too narrow a door. I didn’t feel comfortable telling my friends, I’m right about religion and you’re wrong. I know all kinds of decent, smart, honest people who believe in a greater good, but not that Jesus died and rose again. I know deeply spiritual Jews, Buddhists, and Mormons. Does God really reject my friends just because they were raised with beliefs that are different from mine? How can the true God of our universe be so judgmental and narrow minded?

In 2006 I read through the Bible in a year for the first time. During my daily reading I asked the two questions, who is God and what does this mean for me. And what I learned from God’s word (ie not my friends, Christian books, my own thinking, college classes, parents, late night TV) is that God is judgmental and absolutely not narrow minded. God is a very good judge of character and is outrageously creative, among other things. Most importantly, he is to be trusted. I’d heard plenty of Old Testament stories and New Testament quotes, but I had never experienced God’s message as a whole. It was reading the detailed account of God’s interaction with man, including the 33 years when he became man, that pushed my faith out of the gray area.

By reading God’s account of who he is for myself I finally thought for myself. And I found myself moved to worship a God who, as I’d read, created a good world for His people. I met a God who, after His people betrayed Him, forgave them and rescued them from slavery. A God who gave His people a great nation and a savior to save them from themselves. A God who wants above all to be needed by his people. And a God who has a brilliant kingdom waiting for His chosen. I came to understand everyone in heaven is chosen by God, not me. For I have found peace in that it is not my decision which Jews, Buddhists, or Mormons go to heaven. Only God knows. It is up to me to know God.

Reading the Bible everyday is not easy. It requires prayer, discipline, and most importantly accountability. This blog is my accountability. It is not fancy or self serving, just daily notes on God’s truth, out loud thinking. It is also a place where anyone can come when they are reading the Bible. We’re not alone. The girls in my discipleship group are reading daily too. Do leave comments, questions, and thoughts as you’re challenged and encouraged by what you read. Keep praying for truth to prevail.