Wednesday 25 July 2012

Every Morning?

One of the best things about being on holiday is waking up without an alarm. There's not much that can rival the hatred i hold for my alarm clock in the depths of the school year! When i woke up this morning, i thought what i was going to do first, grab my coffee, sit in the morning sun and read Mark.

Then a thought flashed across my mind. 'Do I have to? I already know what happens!' That thought was right. I've read Mark, preached from Mark, read commentaries and led studies on mark's Gospel, do i really need to read it now? What about Boy Meets World? Thankfully this thought was chased away, and i had a lovely time this morning. But the questions lingers, why do I need to read the Bible every day? I can think of a few reasons.

I don't wake up in Gospel model.


I don't often wake up excited about the Gospel. Sometimes i do, but often i don't. I need to be reminded, i need to be brought back to reality. Away from twitter, facebook and ESPN, and back to the reality that grounds existence. I need to be reminded of the Gospel every day by the Bible.

I'm hungry for breakfast.


I've never considered skipping breakfast because it'll be the same as yesterday. I've eaten thousands of bowls of cereal, and they all taste about the same. But i'm hungry for another one every morning. I think, to some extent, Jesus gave us those sensations to teach us how we need to feel about Him. We wake up physically hungry to remind us that we wake up spiritually hungry. We never have doubts about feeding our stomachs. Why our souls?

The Bible is precious.


'The most precious thing the world affords,' as the incoming Monarch is reminded at their coronation. There is simply and objectively no better way to start each day than by reading the Bible.

Precious because...


There's no magic in the pages of my Bible. I like my Bible very much, but it's not an icon. The Bible is precious because it introduces me to Jesus, i hear His voice, sit confounded with the crowd, stop and pray at Gethsemene, weep over Jerusalem. I meet Jesus in Mark, and Malachi, Lamentations and Romans. It's fresh manna every day, just like a fire needs stoking, my heart needs fresh coal to burn for the morning.

The Bible sets me, centres me, reminds me, envisions me, cuts me, warms me, stops me and starts me, The Bible shows me the glory of God in Christ, and i need that...every morning.

No comments:

Post a Comment