Wishing vs Truth

Whenever we study the Bible we have to do our best to let the text speak for itself. The goal is to excavate God’s message, ascertain God’s values, and comprehend God’s perspective. We may have many ideas and expectations about what we hope to uncover and what we wish to find, but the Bible has to be approached with an intentional objectivity.

Many will tell you that reading the Bible objectively is impossible. That’s a popular refrain from those who want to give themselves license to dismiss what’s really there. But reading the Bible with requisite objectivity is not impossible. It may be unsettling and even scary, but it can and must be done. There are a good many things that I wish the newspaper would report each morning, but every day I have to let the reporters report, adjusting my hopeful expectations as I read. And God is no cub reporter. He knows how to communicate.

God has revealed his ascertainable message clearly in the pages of his word. He is not seeking to obscure the truth we need to know. Sure, there is work involved in mining God’s truth, but we must do it, leaving behind our preconceptions and allowing the Bible to speak as we make adjustments.