An Offensive Analogy
*Disclaimer and Warning ... There is an extremely good chance that this analogy is offensive.*
So for years, people have been giving me a hard time about my Bible--both in Denmark and the United States. Yes. It's a study Bible so it's bigger. And yes. I keep lots of notes in there. Lots of notes and Bible studies and ... well, you get the picture. So there are times when it's hard to zip the cover closed because it's soooo full. It's more than just my Bible. It's become a commentary and a journal. It's this visible, tangible piece of art that throws open wide for all to see my relationship with God.
And it goes everywhere with me. All the time. I remember on an international flight once, I put it in my checked luggage because I had a smaller Bible with me in my bag. And the entire flight I worried that they would loose my luggage. I didn't care about the expensive stuff in my suitcase, just my Bible.
Not that I think that my Bible is better than someone else's or others aren't good enough. It's just mine. There's something intimate about it and watching my relationship with God unfold in seeing what is written on page after page. Hand me someone else's Bible and I know where I John 4.7-12 is but it takes me forever to find in a stranger's Bible and it's just not quite the same.
That having been said... Last Sunday evening after a long day, not much sleep and just about the right amount of caffeine, I was pretty on fire and there wasn't too much censorship going on between my brain, heart, and mouth. As I was discussing all of this with someone, the analogy came out like this:
You know. It's like when you're living in a place where all of the sudden there is a HUGE blizzard and you get stuck somewhere. You're really thankful you're at your friend's house, but you were caught totally unprepared. So your friend gives you a place to sleep, a clean toothbrush and you borrow some clothes. Now you're totally ok with all of this but it gets down to the underwear that your friend lends you. You know that they're washed. You know they're clean, but there's still something uncomfortable about it all. There's something not right, and no matter what you do, you feel weird.
That's how it is. If you borrow a Bible from someone else. Something's not quite right. It's not yours. Oh it's still God's Word and just as true, but it just feels wrong. It's about this intimate relationship that we have with God where we are so entangled in His Word, in this beautiful love letter, that anything else leaves you just shaking your head and shuddering.
My prayer is that we would die to self every day and find ourselves lost in His Word in such a way that if this gift He has given us is not by our side, that we wouldn't be comfortable until we dive head on into it again.
So for years, people have been giving me a hard time about my Bible--both in Denmark and the United States. Yes. It's a study Bible so it's bigger. And yes. I keep lots of notes in there. Lots of notes and Bible studies and ... well, you get the picture. So there are times when it's hard to zip the cover closed because it's soooo full. It's more than just my Bible. It's become a commentary and a journal. It's this visible, tangible piece of art that throws open wide for all to see my relationship with God.
And it goes everywhere with me. All the time. I remember on an international flight once, I put it in my checked luggage because I had a smaller Bible with me in my bag. And the entire flight I worried that they would loose my luggage. I didn't care about the expensive stuff in my suitcase, just my Bible.
Not that I think that my Bible is better than someone else's or others aren't good enough. It's just mine. There's something intimate about it and watching my relationship with God unfold in seeing what is written on page after page. Hand me someone else's Bible and I know where I John 4.7-12 is but it takes me forever to find in a stranger's Bible and it's just not quite the same.
That having been said... Last Sunday evening after a long day, not much sleep and just about the right amount of caffeine, I was pretty on fire and there wasn't too much censorship going on between my brain, heart, and mouth. As I was discussing all of this with someone, the analogy came out like this:
You know. It's like when you're living in a place where all of the sudden there is a HUGE blizzard and you get stuck somewhere. You're really thankful you're at your friend's house, but you were caught totally unprepared. So your friend gives you a place to sleep, a clean toothbrush and you borrow some clothes. Now you're totally ok with all of this but it gets down to the underwear that your friend lends you. You know that they're washed. You know they're clean, but there's still something uncomfortable about it all. There's something not right, and no matter what you do, you feel weird.
That's how it is. If you borrow a Bible from someone else. Something's not quite right. It's not yours. Oh it's still God's Word and just as true, but it just feels wrong. It's about this intimate relationship that we have with God where we are so entangled in His Word, in this beautiful love letter, that anything else leaves you just shaking your head and shuddering.
My prayer is that we would die to self every day and find ourselves lost in His Word in such a way that if this gift He has given us is not by our side, that we wouldn't be comfortable until we dive head on into it again.
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