Jump Start # 719

Ephesians 5:17 “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

A man was invited to come to church services. He really didn’t want to. He made excuses and complained about this and that. He stated firmly, “I can’t understand the Bible.” That was probably the most honest thing he said in the whole conversation. He doesn’t understand the Bible. There are many like this person. Some have been told that it is impossible to understand. The variety of churches on nearly every street corner has given proof to this ideology. It seems that no one can agree upon what the Bible says.

I don’t buy into this thinking. Our verse today affirms what I am saying. Paul told the Ephesians to understand the will of God. Obviously, understanding the will of God was and is possible. We can know what God wants. We can understand the Bible. Some say, we can not understand the Bible alike. That statement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If we understand the Bible, we will understand it alike. We cannot understand it differently. One person cannot say the earth is flat and another the earth is round and come to the conclusion that we understand it differently. No. One person does not understand. We may have different ideas and thoughts but that does not mean that we understand correctly.

We don’t have a problem thinking that a college kid going off to medical school after a few years can understand the workings of the human body. We don’t have a problem with another person studying engineering to the extent that he can grasp what it takes to send a rocket deep into space. We can understand what causes tornados. We can understand why the red light is flashing on the dashboard of a car. We can understand politics, economics, criminology, Shakespeare, Egyptian hieroglyphics and even the mental state of the mind. Yet, some how we cannot understand the Bible! Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to you?

Our passage is found in the midst of several positive and negative admonitions. Notice some of these.

The negatives:

• Do not walk as unwise men (15)
• Do not be foolish (16)
• Do not get drunk with wine (18)

The positives:

• Make the most of your time (16)
• Understand what the will of the Lord is (17)
• Be filled with the Spirit (18)
• Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord (19)
• Be thankful (20)
• Be subject to one another (21)

How is it that some can understand God’s will and others can not? Is there a special school that some have gone to or a unique gift that some are born with? The answer is neither. All can understand the will of God if that is first their will. They have to want to understand it.

Flipping through the Bible here and there, a couple of times a year won’t do it. Try that in physics class and see how far you’ll get. Understanding God’s will begins with a heart that wants to be spiritual and know God’s will. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find…” It won’t just come to you while you are sitting in a chair watching TV. It won’t knock on your door. First, I must be serious about the seeking part.

Many, many years ago I took a class in speed reading. I can fly through a book and know the gist of it. Even now I tend to read the first and last paragraphs of a page and scan through the middle section very fast. Can’t do that with the Bible. Every word is important. The order of the words are important. There is no speed reading with the Bible. Slow it down. Take your time. Look carefully. Think. Chew on what you read. Ask questions. Put yourself there. Connect to other Bible verses. Look up words. Chase rabbits in your study. Read the passage in another translation. Look at repeated words. Consider who is talking. Who is the audience. What is going on behind the scenes. See how God defines words. What is the point of the paragraph I just read. All of that is essential to coming to an understanding of the Bible.

No other book demands so much of us when we read it. For instance, every day I’m reading a book about Sandy Koufax, my favorite baseball player. I also read pages from the Bible every day. I do not read those two books the same. My approach is very different. My agenda is totally different in those two books. I read one very fast. I read the other very slowly. I read one lying on my couch. I read the other sitting at my desk, with a pen in my hand and a pad of paper beside me. I’m reading one book. I’m studying the other. There’s a difference. Until a person gets that, they won’t understand the will of God.

The Bible is a big book that covers a lot of history. The more I can put these things together in my mind the better I will understand the message. Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians and also prophets, apostles, elders and judges—this gets all jumbled up and fuzzy if I can’t put the pieces together. It takes time. Learning always does. Stay with it. Take notes. Take notes during sermons. Write in your Bible. Work at it. It will not come to the lazy or to those who give up easy. Don’t start with Revelation. Start with Luke.

You can know. You can understand. What a blessing it is to understand God’s word. Studying is a growth process. Little by little the darkness goes away and the dawn of God’s word fills your mind and heart and you come to know God. What a great joy that is.

I believe God is the greatest author of all time. I believe that He is capable of writing a book that all can understand. The message of Jesus was first told to common fishermen who went and told other fishermen the saving message of Jesus.

Don’t give up, nor accept the easy excuse that no one can understand the Bible. We can if we try. We can if we look at it with an open mind. We can if we put away our rose colored glasses of prejudices and preconceived ideas. We can if we let the Bible speak and we listen.

Understand…do you? God wants you to!

Roger