Part 1, The Double-Edged Sword

I was honored to be asked to speak at a women’s Bible study tonight at my church.  In case you missed that I said, s-p-e-a-k.  I write.  I don’t speak, um, well.   One of my well-spoken  friends told me to use the nervous adrenaline to clear my head and push me through it.  I think adrenaline must have a reverse effect on me.  One time I had a  kid in the ER, and all that adrenaline did for me was make  me forget my own child’s middle name.  I never recalled it the whole time we were there.

But God was kind, to his name be the glory, to calm my nerves and help me faithfully give testimony to some riches of reading his word.  Since I write, I first typed up 7 single-spaced pages to make my outline.  I thought I might as well share it here in bits and pieces.  If you’re like me a blog post loses me at about 3 paragraphs, maybe 4 if the picture is good, so I won’t post it all at once.   Hope you find a helpful nugget!

Part 1:  My Testimony to the Double-Edged Sword

My relationship to the Bible has been tumultuous at times, really a double edged sword.  I was raised in a Christian home, memorized verses
at AWANA, I went to a Christian high school, had bible class everyday. I was pretty confident, or you might say, “puffed up,”  in my knowledge of the Bible.

At some point in my late teen years I began to read a little more regularly on my own and little more thoroughly.  The further I ventured in, the more my own little  Bible world I had trained myself in, started to get unruly.  In this new world of the real Bible, there were laws I couldn’t understand let alone keep, so I hated that they were there. There was the God who drove out the people before Israel and visited calamity on sinners, how could I feel warm and fuzzy about that?  In it was a savior who died to make atonement for sin, making me face the fact that I deserved death, which I didn’t think I did.  And the last straw, here was the God who justly sends people to hell, people I love, how could I love him?    The sword was in full effect judging the thoughts and attitudes of my heart (Heb. 4:12), and asking me like Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?”

I did. I wanted to run, but I could not.  The same sword constrained me to answer with Simon Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn. 6:67-69)

My heart has come to a crossroads with the Scriptures more than a few times. But, every time, he has kept me to the only sure and safe way, his way.  It may feel narrow, but the wide path is destruction. (Mt. 7:13)   The Bible is” not a tame lion.”  We need to come to it rightly (1 Tim. 2:15).

Next: Part 2: Posture: We come hungry.