Hi guys.
So, I had a whole blog on Joshua typed up, ready and set to go. It was well-written and highlighted some excellent points, if I do say so myself.
But as I did one final read-through, I realised something was missing: Jesus.
The irony.
Truth is, since Deuteronomy I’ve been struggling to clearly identify types or shadows of Christ (click here to find out what that means). What little I could see in Joshua didn’t seem that novel or relatable, so I turned my attention to principles of godly living that Christians could emulate from the Israelites. My blog leaned more towards seeing Jesus’ followers as opposed to Jesus Himself.
source: christianitytoday.com
I’m finding the line between revealing Christ in the Bible vs relating the Bible to Christians to be thin. While there’s a place for us to see ourselves reflected in the Israelites and the other historical figures, that can’t be our focus. If so, we will get to passages like the one I last read, 1 Chronicles 1-2, in which that is not at all possible.
And what happens then?
You might find yourself getting up to do something else, falling asleep while you read the Bible, or simply skipping chunks until you get to another story.
But if we do that, we miss the point. The point is God.
To quote the first blog in this series, the Bible is one story pointing to Jesus. I’ll say it again, for my sake as much as yours: the Bible is one story pointing to Jesus. Repeat that statement to yourself. Meditate on it. Turn it into a prayer every time you open your Bible to read. We cannot allow our gaze to shift from God to ourselves or anything else.
The minute we do that, we’ll find ourselves studying the Bible according to how we feel, or what we agree with, or what we’re interested in, or what seems relevant to our current situations. But the Bible isn’t about us. It’s about God, and He is present on every page – not literally mentioned, but showing us His personality, His likes and dislikes, how He relates to us and how He would like us to relate back.
If you’ve never thought to read your Bible with that in mind, that’s completely fine! I grew up in church but only learnt this last year. And as this blog shows, I’m not a master at it. The beauty of a relationship with God is that we are continuously learning and being transformed into the likeness of Christ by the power of His Spirit within us. When we catch ourselves steering off course, the best solution is often to take a pause and retrace our steps.
That’s what I’ve decided to do.
Nothing dramatic honestly. Recently, I was reminded that to write about Jesus in the Scriptures I first need to see Him in them myself. So I’m being careful to retrace my steps. I hope to have a new blog ready for next Sunday, but in the meantime I’ll be looking out for Jesus in my Bible readings and enjoying the new season of one of my favourite shows – which you can (and should) check out here.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”