Hallowed or Hollowed?
We arrived at our ladies’ Bible study at the same moment and, as good Christians do, fought over who would let the other go ahead into the room.
“No, you first.”
“No, you.”
“I insist.”
“Well, thank you.”
“Love your new tote bag.”
“Thanks. I had to get a new one. Carrying both my study guide and my Bible every week split the bottom seam on my old tote,” I told her as we both headed for the most comfortable chair and mutely decided neither of us would take it.
“Not a problem for me anymore.” She handed me her Bible, thin.and featherweight. I wondered how fine a print it had to be to weigh so little and thought about that artist who’d written the Ten Commandments on a grain of rice. Then I opened her “Bible”, regular sized print, but only a handful of pages. A couple of Psalms. Luke chapter two. The last page of the book of Revelation. “Sherry, what’s this?” She smiled. “I was having shoulder problems from hauling my Bible in my totebag, so I just removed the passages I found hard to swallow, the begats, the prophecy stuff that made me think too hard, and anything remotely convicting. Much easier to carry around with me now.”
She’d solved her shoulder problem. I’m guessing she’ll soon experience heart trouble, though.
Yes, Sherry’s fictional. But her attitude is all too real. The Bible is not a notebook from which we can rip the messy pages, the verses that make us uncomfortable, and the commandments we presume are for others, surely not us. We can’t get the full picture of Christ without Genesis or a full grasp of hope without the desperation of Job.
We may not physically tear out the passages we’d just as soon avoid, but by our lack of attention to them, are we hollowing the hallowed Word?
PRAYER: Oh Author of our Faith, make me brave enough and diligent enough to embrace ALL of Your Word, to not ignore or neglect any of it. Deepen my love for You as I deepen my walk through Your Word.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” II Timothy 3:16 KJV.
Today’s devotional is by Cynthia Ruchti, writer and producer of the radio ministry THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME and current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia’s debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases from Abingdon Press in Spring 2010. Cynthia writes stories of hope that glows in the dark. www.cynthiaruchti.com.
