The Bible’s Clarity Ought to Motivate Us

Section 2: The Bible

Week 2: The Bible Is Clear

Day `5: The Bible’s Clarity Ought to Motivate Us

Ps. 19:7-11

We’ve spent this week emphasizing the Bible’s clarity. Why? To motivate you to study the Bible more.

Imagine you’re a relief pitcher. It’s the bottom of the ninth. Your team is up by three runs. The bases are loaded with two outs. The manager brings you in. Oh…did I mention it’s the seventh game of the World Series? This is a career-defining moment. You could become a hero, the toast of the town. But suppose you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re going to serve up the game-winning home run to your everlasting shame. How excited would you be about stepping on that mound?   Not very!

Flip that image around, though. Suppose you knew for certain you’d strike that guy out. You probably couldn’t wait to get out there. The expectation of success can be a big motivator.

That’s the whole point of emphasizing the Bible’s clarity. If we think the Bible is just for scholars, we won’t even try to understand it. Why would we? We’d have no hope of succeeding. When we realize, however, that the Bible was written to be understood by ordinary people just like us, the picture suddenly changes. We realize we have every reason to expect success. Sure there might be difficult passages here and there, but those passages aren’t insurmountable obstacles. We just have to take advantage of the tools and teachers God has given us. That should be great news. You don’t have to be a pastor or scholar to understand what God has said. We can all do it.

So what’s stopping you? Nothing!

Reflection Questions:

Do you think of the Bible as something you have the ability to understand? If not, what do you see as your primary obstacles? Are you willing to work to overcome those obstacles?

Challenge:

Make a list of tools that will help you understand the Bible better.