Chapter
Three - Scripture Feeding of SELF; Variety
Our
taste buds work best when we eat some peas, then some meat, followed
by a bite of pineapple etc. Our meals at the table would truly be
boring, and not as nutritious either, if we ate only peas at this
meal, and then only meat at our next meal. Our feeding on scripture
is transformed into a time of anticipation when we select servings
from several of its 'scripture food groups'.
As we
approach scripture, we must be mindful that God inspired men to
record His word with flavors of their own personalities. The Gospel
of Matthew was written in a 'flavor' best understood by the Jews. The
Gospel of Mark was written to the Romans with the mindset of a
soldier's 'Just give me the facts and keep it short!' Luke was a
non-Jewish medical doctor and flavored his gospel presenting Jesus
Christ with all details mankind could absorb. The Gospel of John
presents Jesus Christ as Heaven's Gift to man of every land, like a
mighty Eagle coming to us through the blue sky. Each of these four
gospels are different flavors for learning who Jesus Christ is, and
our responsibility to Him.
God
guarded the writing of the various 'flavors' of scripture (without
contradiction) through the hands of approximately
40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. Some
were prophets,
priests,
a
tax-collector,
kings,
fisherman,
tent-maker,
shepherd,
physician. The
forms of scripture are letters, genealogies, history, law, parables,
poetry, prophecy, and proverbs. It just thrills me to tell youth that
God wants us to do texting with today's technology. He has even
provided a large library of text messages already to share with
others. They are mostly contained in the Old Testament book called
Proverbs.
The
Golden
Honey
of the Old Testament
I
don't
know of anyone that likes their breakfast cereal without any sweetener
or tasty fruit on it. If you want anything added onto your cereal you
have to go to the cupboard or refrigerator and find what you want.
Just looking at your cereal and imagining or wishing there was
something yummy on it, won't make it happen. You have to put into
action a search for the sweetener. Maybe it's like someone searching
for gold nuggets. It takes action not wishing. Two seemingly
contrasting words come to mind – concealed and revealed. The
sweetener in the unopened cupboard is concealed, but when we open the
door it's now revealed. It takes action, but not hard work.
God's
word is a lot like those two words – concealed and revealed. A
well-known description is “God's power and plan for man is, in the
Old Testament Concealed
and in the New Testament Revealed.”
So we must approach our feeding in the Old Testament will take just a
bit of digging to uncover its golden treasures, which will more than
be worth the effort. The shepherd boy, that killed a bear, a lion, a
giant, than became King David, gives just a hint of the Old Testament
gold, when he penned the words, “How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth!”
Psalm 119:105. I enjoy golden honey on my cereal most every morning.
Yummy!
Though
our Bible has a front cover and a back cover, as every book should,
our Bible is actually a library of 66 books that present God without
contradiction. If
we approach our feeding of scripture properly we'll learn more about
God in every portion, even in the genealogies and commands of the
nation Israel.
