Better Ways to Read the Bible 2

You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want. - John 5:39-40, The Message

Zach Lambert in his excellent book, Better Ways To Read the Bible, points out how NOT to read scripture - we looked at that on Monday. For many of us, this is a first step. But we also need to look at the positive side of how you can read scripture in better ways.

The big picture of Zach’s teaching is that we each have lenses through which we see the Bible. None of us come to it unbiased. This is really important as we try to come back to the Bible and have it be life-giving and not soul-crushing. Here are Zach’s 4 crucial lenses. See if one or more strike you as being particularly helpful today:

The Jesus lens: “The Scriptures point to me.”

The context lens: “The one who seeks will find.”

The flourishing lens: “I have come that they may have life abundantly.”

The fruitfulness lens: “By their fruit you will recognize them.”

Sit with these and ponder what God might be saying to you. Is there a better, more life-giving way to read scripture? Are you willing to try it?

NOTE: There will be a book group starting this Fall on Zach’s book, Better Ways To Read the Bible - contact Kelley Barton if you are interested: (562) 537-0809