The Bible used to be incredibly difficult for me to read. As a voracious reader of fiction, it was truly frustrating that I couldn’t just sit down and really get into the Bible the same way I could any other book. This was especially true of the Old Testament. I could make myself read the New Testament, especially the Gospels, and it would capture at least some of my attention. For a short time anyways. That was the case until very recently, as in the beginning of 2023. I think it was in 2021 that I read the Bible in chronological order in a year. And while I may have completed it, I did not retain what I read and I did not necessarily enjoy what I read. It was very much a task of completion, not one of enjoyment.
I decided to try it again this year. I don’t even really know why I made that decision, but I’m certain it wasn’t just me involved in that. Something has certainly shifted for me in reading the Bible this time around, even the Old Testament. I gathered a group of women early in the year to learn how they dig into and eat through the Old Testament as it was previously a mystery to me. I learned some new things that changed how I approached the Old Testament that made all the difference, but that’s not necessary what flipped the switch. The first time I read the entire Bible, I was simply checking a box for the day or even completely avoiding the task (the entire month of June 2021, I’m talking about you), but now I look forward to each day and sometimes I’ll even read ahead to find out what happens next.
If I’m being completely honest, it’s still not exactly like how I can get sucked into a fictional book, but I’m still growing in this walk, and I have no doubt that it will one day be on that level. It’s been through a study of Proverbs that the Lord’s revealed why and how that switch happens. It was Proverbs 1:7 that first cracked this wide open:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
I think most often people read this as: fear the Lord. Instead, it’s supposed to be fear OF the Lord. If I’ve learned anything in the last few years about reading and eating the word, it’s that even the smallest words make a big difference when you’re reading something that was translated from a very different language, and you’re focused on author intent instead of reader interpretation. To live in fear sounds bad, but that’s just because we’re so simple minded in the English-speaking world and live in a culture that doesn’t center their life around the One who made them. In short, we suck. But that’s okay, here’s something to think about: fearing the Lord can be walked out quite easily if we’re willing to try.
How to fear the Lord:
Definition: having deep respect and reverence for God’s power and authority; awe; a healthy fear of living without God.
1. Shama – hear God’s voice (through His word) and obey it.
That’s it, a single step of guidance that will take an entire lifetime to complete. To hear and obey the voice of the Lord is so much more than just reading your bible. As I write this, I’m reminded of Galatians 5, really the entire chapter (seriously, go read it) but here are the ones that initially popped into my head:
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you arenot under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I [Paul speaking] warned you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
While we can attempt to walk out living in fear of the Lord as we shama, it won’t mean anything to us or Him if we don’t have a deep and meaningful relationship with God. And that’s the epiphany that started this entire post. Proverbs 9:10:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight [understanding].”
We can make ourselves read the Bible all day, every day but unless there’s a tried-and-true relationship with God as the foundation, it will be dull and meaningless. Just like Ecclesiastes, Eeyore’s favorite book of the Bible, everything under the sun will be meaningless. If you know anything about Ecclesiastes, then you’ll recognize that the sentiment is true because it doesn’t account for doing life with God. Without God, everything under the sun certainly is meaningless. But that’s a discussion for another day.
The Bible is our instruction manual the same way it was when it was first being written. The only way we can read it, understand it and work through our salvation with fear and trembling [Philippians 2:12+13] is because of our relationship with God. I used to think I had a relationship with God, but that simply wasn’t true. It’s not that I didn’t believe in him, didn’t pray, didn’t go to church, didn’t try to be a good person by the world’s standards and I know that He loved me then, just the same as He does now. The problem was that I didn’t invest in my relationship with God. I didn’t talk to Him about anything and everything, I didn’t make time for Him in my day, I didn’t try to get to know Him better through His word. It’s absolutely blowing my mind right now how easy this connection should be, but it also reminds me of Mark 4:10-12:
“And when [Jesus] was alone, those around him with the twelve [disciples] asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
I know that I’m guilty of judging the disciples for constantly doubting Jesus despite seeing miracle after miracle with their own eyes. It’s our innate humanity that holds us back from ever fully becoming exactly like Jesus, it quite literally keeps us grounded on earth. It’s our fear of the Lord that moves us into walking in righteousness. To put it simply, righteous means to be right with God. I’ll refer back to Galatians if you want a place to start for simple steps towards righteousness. It’s important to note that we cannot be righteous on our own, just like faith, we can’t stir up righteousness on our own by trying to good. And again, that is another discussion for another time. I’ll leave you with this:
Take a deep dive into your relationship with God, is it only skin deep or does He penetrate and convict your heart?
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