truth

I read two different blog posts today about reading in the Word of God and, being as it was something that I was just praying about yesterday and talking to mom about a week or two ago, I think it's something God wants me to pay attention to right now. These posts both talk about the lack of time spent in the Word and it's something I have been convicted about many times. It leads me ask why I keep finding myself in the same struggle. First, and foremost, because sin doesn't disappear and fighting my flesh will be a continual struggle. But why do I, someone who is often accused of spending too much time in books (a.k.a. a bookworm), struggle to stay consistent with reading the greatest book of all? In most literature, the reader can find himself in one of the characters. And, more often than not, the reader can find himself in the main character. Maybe not always in the same way, some people may find a similar character trait while others may find a similar struggle to one they are experiencing or have experienced. But in some way they walk the journey of the plot with the character. And, when the resolution finally comes, the reader feels that he too has triumphed. (I will omit the morbid terror of the normal endings accompanying American literature from this summary and save them for another post at a later time.) The Bible, however, shows us our weakness. It constantly and consistently asks us to grow and change, to recognize our error and turn from our sin. I just told a friend yesterday how much I love that every time I read the Bible I understand truth in a new or different way. But maybe that's the very same reason why the Bible is isn't always the first book I turn to. The Bible doesn't allow me to feel good about myself. The Bible shows me just how awful my state is and how much I need a Savior. Secular literature allows the main character to be the center of attention. The Bible asks me to focus on my Creator and Savior and, in light his magnificence, to see myself for what I am. Secular literature allows me to be the unlikely hero or the failure that never finds his way, but either way I'm looking at myself. The Bible asks me to first look at Christ. Secular literature feeds my pride. The Bible teaches humility. The Bible shows me the truth that I, in my sinful state, don't always want to see.