November of last year (08), I made one of the best decisions of my life. I decided to read the Bible in its entirety, as it is arranged in the Protestant Bible, from cover to cover. It took a long time, but just the other day I read Revelations 22 which is the last chapter. And now it's done.
One has to acquire a taste for the greatest pleasures in life. For the most part, those tastes don't come naturally. I sure didn't crave to spend some time in the Bible until I had given it enough chances to impress my soul. Kind of like atole.
Atole is a traditional corn or rice based drink of Mexico. Its origins can be traced to Aztec times, when the Aztecs were getting bored of corn maize and a creative one said, "Let's make a boiling hot corn drink!" The first time I drank atole was at a birthday party and I've never had a drink that has shocked me like this one. Steamy goo crawled from the cup into my mouth and latched on to my tongue and cheeks, resisting my throat muscles, leaving a layer of it's creamy substance coving everything inside me. I couldn't image how anybody could like this stuff. They tried to offer me other flavors like chocolate, or nut, or vanilla, or cinnamon rice. But I would have no more of that slime. Little did I know that several years later, after giving atole several more chances, I would consider it one of the most special drinks in the world. I love that traditional goo!
I'm convinced that very few people crave the Bible because they haven't worked at acquiring a taste for it. I've grown up in a devote Christian family and so I tried two or three times to read through the Bible, only to find that once I'd reach books like Leviticus, the stuff was too thick for me to swallow. But things were different this time around. I had acquired a taste for it and soon found myself craving more and more of God's Word. Those of you who are not familiar with the Bible should know that it is a VERY good read and proves to be some very special traditional goo (this coming from someone who studied writing and literature in college).
The Bible is the world's number one best seller almost every year and is the world's best selling book of all times. It sits on more book shelves and in more houses than any other book in the world. Yet, most of those Bibles collect dust and are treated more as collector's items. Mexico is a prime example. About 90% of Mexico's population call themselves Catholic and it wouldn't surprise me if practically all of them owned a Bible. But they consider tradition and church authorities to be superior to the Bible and therefore see little need to read it.
This past Sunday my dad preached and encouraged the church to seek out truth themselves by taking the initiative to read the Bible and research its reliability. It sparked a lively discussion at the end of the sermon. It seems that many Mexicans have a suppressed interest in the Bible and therefore my dad has found that people's interests are perked when they are informed that the Bible severely contradicts Roman Catholic doctrine. One very successful ministry that my dad has practiced for the past six years are Bible Overview small group studies (Un Vistaso de la Biblia). Lately he has been going to peoples homes and going through the Bible with individual families. During my stay here, I hope to join my dad when he goes to teach these studies and you can probably look forward to hearing a bit about them.
In conclusion, I just wanted to let you know that although I have finally read the Bible all the way through for the first time, my cravings for it have only begun. I've learned that I need to challenge myself with goals in order to keep craving. So before I read through the Bible again, I want to reread some of the artistic books of the Bible in Spanish. That'll keep me busy for a while. Goals are powerful engines that can take you to wonderful places and reading that Traditional Goo from cover to cover would make a great new year resolution that you would never regret *wink, wink*!
Oh the joys of those who delight in the law of He-Who-Exists!
Psalm 1
The law of God is true.
More precious than gold
even the finest gold.
Sweeter than honey
even the drippings of the honeycomb.
It is a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey it.
Psalm 19
2 comments:
As soon as you start asking for help, He always throws the answers at you. I really love this post because it's the perfect metaphore. I have the same problem reading the bible and usually read and reread the gospels because they're happy and full of Christ Love. But shall we take the good and not the bad? Well, not that any part of the Bible is necessarily bad, just tough. I'll think of this as I read so of my less favored books.
Good point Molly. But if you can stand the fact that God sacrificed his son for the sake of giving his glory an extreme definition (which is in all of the gospels), then the rest could be a piece of scrumptious cake and atole!
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