A whole new world.

I want to continue what was started in the previous article – looking at our approach to the scriptures.
I have often had an idea or an interest in a specific subject and then came to the Bible with that subject in mind, seeing what it had to say about it. Many have this type of approach to Bible study and with pure motives. However, God is interested in more than just commenting on your ideas. In a subtle way we simply use the scriptures to justify our preconceived ideas; we are asking God to fit into our world, validate it, even inspire it, but we are not really ready for Him to transform our world, destroy many of our ideas and set the agenda for which subjects to study.

Some of you might remember a movie called ‘Never ending story’. In this movie a boy starts reading a very special book that draws him into an entirely different world from his own. The book doesn’t, in the first instance, give advice or direction for his world. In fact the story draws him into a world entirely oblivious to his world and seemingly unconnected. Only closer to the end, as the boy understands more of this world and more about himself in this new context, does the connection with his ‘real’ world become clear.

In a sense this is what the scriptures want to do – open a door into an entirely new world – the world of God – a world which at first seems entirely different and unconnected to our own. The first priority of the scriptures is not to comment on your life, your subject, your idea, your doctrine or your world – it has much greater ambitions and purposes. Only once you have allowed yourself to be taken to this new world, and discovered yourself in the context of this new world do the connections and implications for our world become clear. I can’t help thinking of the song: ‘a whole new world’. Here are a few of the lyrics that fit this concept so well:

…A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view…

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I’m way up here
It’s crystal clear
That now I’m in a whole new world with you
Now I’m in a whole new world with you

A whole new world
Don’t you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see
Hold your breath – it gets better
I’m like a shooting star
I’ve come so far
I can’t go back to where I used to be …..

The basic thought is that God wants to be more than an accessory to your world. His message is greater than a comment on your life. The scriptures have more to offer than a feel-good inspirational thought to help you through the day. As we read the scriptures, be ready to be transported into an entirely different setting, confronted by entirely new ideas, and transformed into an entirely new person. It is such an approach that can cause a person to say (as Paul did) it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me.

For those who have not read the previous article, please do. We have a challenge at the end of that article which should be a great benefit to those who take it up.