
A few years back I stopped reading the Bible. Okay let me back up… In 2008, I had the reality check that I couldn’t remember the last time I opened my Bible to read it. It had probably been years.
I knew scripture according to the fragments I learned in Sunday School as a kid and the bits and pieces I picked up when I listened to the message on Sundays.
Notice I said when I listened. Which was probably in between thinking about what needed to be done for the day.
I remember a friend challenged me to read Philippians, so I did. I actually enjoyed it! Who knew?
So fast forward to today, when I climbed into the pages and actually experienced the Word of God.
I am studying Beth Moore’s Jesus the One and Only. Part of my lesson led me to read the Christmas Story. I read it slowly hoping to find something new that I had never seen or thought about before.
I read Luke 2: 19, “But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.”
I began to ponder-Can you imagine how hard it must have been for Mary to live without Jesus after He ascended to Heaven? She lived with Him here on Earth for about 33 years and then had to let Him go.
She got to hold him-love Him as His mother and her Lord. My heart ached for her. The crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension had to be most intense joy at the fulfillment of scripture and the most painful grief anyone could feel.
I wondered if she struggled with depression in the days after Jesus left this Earth. How do you live with Jesus for so long and then face a world without Him?
Mary understood grief and the troubles of this world. Perhaps better than anyone.
So you see, I stopped reading the Bible and started experiencing the fullness of God’s word. Let me tell you it is unbelieveable. Try it!