This Blog Is Not Your Bible

This blog is not your Bible.

I'm just going to say that again, because it's kind of a "duh" statement, and yet it's what I need to hear. This blog (or any other) is not your (or my) Bible.

We live in a time of unparalleled free resources available to Christians who want to enhance their daily devotional time or doctrinal understanding. But if we inhale these fabulous resources yet neglect the life-breathing discipline of opening the Word of God and studying it for ourselves, our "learning" is in vain. I know, because it happens to me far too often. Here's how it looks in my life.

The Daily Grind

Each school day, my middle son's bus picks him up at 6:54 a.m. That's really early. The rest of my family's schoolers (including my husband) have to be out of the house around 7:15. I am not blessed with the gift of "morning-personhood," so between 6 and 7:15 a.m., I can barely open both eyes all the way, much less read my Bible.

While I wait for my home to quiet a little, I might have time to check my email, Facebook, or Twitter, where some of my favorite bloggers and ministries have already posted their daily offerings. So I peruse these while the breakfast-eating, clothes-finding clamor goes on, making a mental note of posts I really want to read when everyone leaves.

7:15—Finally quiet! Now what was that one I really wanted to get to? Well, one leads to another (They're all just so good!), and before I know it, an hour has gone by. My youngest child is awake, my "quiet time" is done, and my Bible rests unopened in the drawer of the table beside me. I imagine its judging accusations (Hmmph, some Christian you are, leaving me in the drawer while you wander the web in search of more enlightening things!), but in my heart I know there could be some truth to my imaginings—a whole hour of reading about the things of God, and I never even got to hear from Him.

Our walk with Christ, there is simply no substitute for going to the Source.

But isn't it still a spiritually fruitful use of time if I'm learning about the Word and its Author? Well, sure, but think about the application of this principle as it relates to other areas of life. For example, when we teach students to write research reports, we tell them that primary sources are the absolute best—much more reliable than a person who wrote an article about a person who heard what happened from someone who was there!

Further, if I want to find out how my husband's day was, it would be unwise for me to call his secretary and have a conversation like this:

Me: Hi, Christy. So how was Michael's day today?

Christy: Well, it was okay, I guess.

Me: Hmmm . . . did he encounter any problems, any difficult student situations? What was his level of frustration today, in general? And how does he feel our relationship is going? Does he think it was wrong for me to spend $75 on that sweater? And can you find out what his thoughts are on our Christmas vacation plans?

We would never think to do such a thing; it would be ridiculous, right? If I want to hear from my husband, I need to go to the source and hear directly from him, in his own words.

James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." Our culture today loves to bypass the primary source. At the first thought of a medical question, we run to Google instead of our doctor. We prefer to get our current events from social media, where we trust that our friends and those we follow have sifted through it all and pulled out what is relevant and interesting to us.

Too Much of a Good Thing, Not Enough of the Best

As much as we respect and admire our favorite human teachers who speak biblical truth into our lives, God's wisdom is always higher than even the wisest of men. The youth group at our church just wrapped up a study on Psalm 119, and as I was re-reading it, I came across this truth in verses 97–103:

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Regardless of the gifted teachers and amazing resources we have available today, in our walk with Christ, there is simply no substitute for going to the Source. For a time we can nibble away at the gleanings we pick up from the hard work of our brothers and sisters. But eventually, we will find ourselves dry and hungry. It is not so when we go to the Source, our God, through His very word! "For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things" (Ps. 107:9).

So welcome, friends, to a new year here on the True Woman blog! I pray that what you read in this space in 2016 provides you with a healthy, Word-infused snack. May it be the sweet whipped cream atop your pie or the steamy, creamy coffee that gets you through the afternoon.

But most of all, I pray we will all come to this place already satisfied—even stuffed to the gills—with a meal from the living, breathing, life-giving Word of God.