August 30, 2020 (Sunday)
One of my favorite “Peanuts” cartoons from Charles M. Schulz features Charlie Brown and his friend, Linus, lying on the grass, looking up at the clouds: Charlie Brown says, “… If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations… What do you think you see, Linus?” Linus replies: “Well, those clouds up there give me the impression of the stoning of Stephen… I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side..What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?” Charlie replies: “Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!” (― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960 ).
Isn’t it amazing that the human mind can conjure profound meanings from inanimate objects. Imagination can entertain you. When I lie back in my recliner and stare at the tile blocks in the ceiling, I see all sorts of things, like a dog or a lady, or a horse or a car. You name it, I’ll see it one day. I often wonder if those curley lines on the tiles were meant to mean something.
I think many people see the Bible like that. They read and they read and suddenly a verse jumps out at them and they say, “That’s meant for me! God is speaking to me,” without any regard of the context. They may not even know which book of the Bible contains the verse. On a windy day, they open the Bible and let the pages flutter until the wind settles. Then they close their eyes, and point a finger at the page. The verse they find is accepted as a personal message from God.
If that’s how you view the scriptures, then let me bust your bubble. When the Bible was written, it was written in a language other than English. Someone translated it for you. Not only that, it is a fact that it was not written in the form of chapters and verses; it was written like a book or a letter. God used the writings of people who were experiencing a multitude of circumstances to come up with whatever they finally wrote down.
We’re glad we have the chapters and verses; they help us to find whatever we are seeking. But they were added later on. And, as I say, we’re glad that was done.
The Bible must be studied to become as meaningful as possible. There are all sorts of helps available to help people study it, and actually find out what it means. I suggest that folks stop closing their eyes and making wishes and start studying for real. They will be amazed at what it really says. And helped by it.
I am well aware that there are many out there content to follow the “finger-in-the-fluttering-page” method, and they will continue to see duckies and horsies. They are missing out on what God is really saying, and what He really says is wonderful.