My kids always try conning me into helping them with their homework. It’s not because they can’t do it, they simply want it done quickly. It’s like I have some sort of secret homework potion that makes it get finished faster. Maybe you feel like you need some help figuring out what it truly means to live an unexplainable life?
We live quick fixes don’t we? Pop a pill. Press the button. Jet over to the drive-thru. But when we open our computers and see the wheel of doom because it’s taking more than a few seconds to load, we get impatient.
Unfortunately, our quick fix culture has impacted our relationships- especially our relationship with God. We feel pretty good about ourselves if we squeeze a three minute devotional reading or five minute prayer time into our day. However, the disciples understood something most of us miss: if we want to truly follow Jesus and have Him do the unexplainable in and through us, we have to know the Word of God. That takes time.
Open up the gospels (pick any one of the four) and count how many times it says, “Jesus taught His disciples.” It’s easy to believe in Jesus, it’s hard to allow Him to teach us. Why? A lot of what Jesus says is hard. It takes mental energy. It takes resolve to obey. It means making some tough decisions. And it almost always means a willingness to be uncomfortable. All of that is good news- really- because at the end of the day, we ache for something more. Something profound. Something that compels us to make sense of the world and provides answers to questions our hearts cannot help but ask.
We want assurance that there is some sort of justice within the cosmic chaos. We hope for unconditional love. We long for peace in the face of death. It is this “more” that we find in Jesus, and we find Jesus in the Scriptures. A huge, limitless, perfect Jesus that we’d never fathom outside of time spent in the Bible. There we read of a Jesus so unexplainable that we’d never dare to believe Him to be real outside of Him telling us in His own words. In God’s Word, we find a Jesus who invites us to walk beside Him to unimaginable places and witness unexplainable things.
Have you met this Jesus? Have you taken the time to allow Him to explain Himself to you? It won’t happen through a quick fix. A three minute devotional or five minute prayer isn’t enough. Not even close. It’s a journey, an experience of a lifetime, an ongoing dance, a page turner that is only achieved by spending significant time each day reading, studying, meditating upon the Bible, the Word of the Living God! And here’s the secret: God promises that those who seek Him earnestly…..He reveals His secrets to them!
I’m glad that learning from Jesus is not a quick fix. We’d be devastated at how quickly it would all be over. In truth, we want the music to linger, another chapter to read. So dig in, friend. The Word of God is a limitless treasure trove of song and adventure. Within it you will mine the unexplainable riches of Jesus!
Study His Word. Join a Bible study. Sit at the feet of Jesus. He will change your life.
How do you stay consistent in your Bible reading or study?
How can we encourage each other to make our study of God’s Word more of a priority in our jam-packed lives?
For more information about Erica’s study An Unexplainable Life: Recovering the Wonder and Devotion of the Early Church, click here:Â Moody Publishers
To win a free weekend getaway for you and a friend, visit www.EricaWiggenhorn.com
