Approaching the Bible

One of the things that we hate to hear is that we will understand things better when we are older. I want to know things now, not after an undesignated time has passed. I like to speed things up, not sit and wait for answers to come to me. However, I have perhaps reached the age where this concept makes sense. As I have experienced different life stages, I can see how my perspective has changed over the years. I remember sensing that life was fundamentally different after marrying Jenn. Suddenly I had to look out for someone else, and what I did directly affected another person. I had the same feeling when Isabel was born. It was as if I knew that I would now see the world in a very different light. News stories became heavier when dealing with children. There was a new layer of decision-making when it came to buying things for myself. Now with two kids, a job in the ministry, and the age of 30 coming soon, I again find myself looking at the world differently.

It is not just news programs or finances that are framed in a new light. I notice that I read the Bible differently as well. I approach stories from a different personal context. I wonder what the dads thought about the events. I see the struggles of the early church, and they make more sense. In many ways the people seem more complex because my understanding of the world has become more complex. What was it like for Hannah to let the son she had prayed so hard for live with Eli instead of with her? What was it like for Jacob to believe his son Joseph to have been killed? How did he feel when he found Joseph to be alive?

I like to talk about layers, and I think the concept of layers is perhaps the best way to explain what happens to the way we approach the Bible as we get older. Over the years we add layers of experience, and this experience shapes how we see the world. As we approach the Bible we use this perspective that has been shaped by our experiences to interpret and experience what we read in the Bible. The beauty of this is that the Bible becomes something that speaks to us throughout our life. It is not a novel we read and then put down. It is something that we have a relationship with, something that we interact with. This is the way that God has designed it. He speaks to us through the Bible regardless of where we are in life. While the truths of the Bible stay the same, our understanding and appreciation of these truths grows and changes as the layers are added to our lives.