Pleasure Reading

"Shout it 
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God!"

I wasn't planning to share this, because it isn't finished yet, my goal isn't yet accomplished. But someone needs this, too, right now. Maybe several of you do. So here is what I am doing:

Easter morning we sang "The Wondrous Cross." And this line jumped out at me: "All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood." And unbidden my heart said, "Stories. Stories charm you most." You all know that I love and value stories, and my life and worldview, rooted first in the truth of Jesus, are what you might call "story-formed." Stories are WONDERFUL. But I have struggled my whole life with this, too: that I get lost in a good book over responsibilities, and certainly over scripture. A good story is ever more "charming" to me than the Bible. True confession.

And the hypothetical question, "If you were on a desert island and could only bring one book, what would it be?" And of course the answer is the Bible, because that's the "right" answer for a Christian but really because I truly believe it is the only book, ever, from which we can continually learn and grow and discover new and wonderful things. It never gets old. The more I carve it on my heart, the better. BUT, do I ever treat the Bible that way in normal life? No. I try to read something out of it every day, but I don't study, dwell, meditate on it, or memorize it regularly at all.

And so this is what I'm doing: for the 40 days of church-calendar Easter, up until Pentecost Sunday, I am reading nothing but scripture. I am not being legalistic about it; I am reading my kids' stories to them, I am reading Facebook, I am reading articles. And I am reading a commentary to help me understand the historical and cultural context of Isaiah, which I'm tackling to begin with. But my "pleasure reading" during this season is solely scripture.

And I am so excited for the growth, the peace, and the unexpected results that will come from this time I invest.

You all have a different kind of time right now than you did before COVID-19. It might not actually be more time, but it is different time. And we'll probably never have a season quite like this again. Maybe you need to invest your time differently than you have been. Listen to the Holy Spirit in you, because what He is speaking to me is for me, and what He speaks to you is for you. But the Holy Spirit always, always endorses time in scripture.

(Lyric at the top taken from "All The Poor And Powerless" by All Sons and Daughters)