ANOTHER THOUGHT AS WE BEGIN OUR BIBLE-READING PROGRAM:
We look to the Bible for answers. But as our two-year Bible reading program begins, pay attention as well to the questions. As the Bible unfolds, it replies to the opening questions we encounter in Genesis 3-4. They are:
- “Has God really said…..?” (3:1-5) uttered by the first recorded “snake in the grass”. We’ve been listening to them ever since. This was a challenge to the power and faithfulness of God and His Word, which was so effective, in the first two chapters, in speaking harmony and peace into the chaos of creation. Throughout the rest of the Bible (and history), God will be disproving the snake’s insinuations.
- “Where Are you?” (3:9) Where are we in relation to God? Indifferent, hostile, fearful, welcoming, seeking, angry, adoring? God is still asking of us that same question. Pondering and answering it might be a good way to begin our prayers and worship.
- “Where is your brother….?” (4:9a) do we know? Do we even care? Does it even cross our mind? Do we consider ourselves responsible in any way for others, or are we like Cain who asked:
- “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (4:9b) It will take the rest of the Bible, including the law and the prophets, to address this question. The short answer is Yes, to the point of Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil. 2:6-7).
Comments are closed