Ruts, Routine and Relationship

Just read an article over on Relevant Magazine, entitled "How To Get Out of A Devotional Rut" and it was one of those moments where you have the decision to write it off as coincidence or see it as a loving God communicating to you what you needed to hear.

The article referenced Jesus' words from John 5:39, 40:

"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. "

Ouch. Approaching Scripture because of what I can "get out of it". Assessing its value based on whether or not it "works" or "did anything when I read it". The whole thing is convicting, though potentially so life-giving. The ruts seem to come often for me, when I finish reading a book or some study, and then don't know where to read next. My arrogance and familiarity with the Bible leave me complaining, "I've read it all before, and it didn't...", insert whatever there. Didn't make me holy. Didn't solve my problems. Didn't heal my pain. Didn't tell me what to do in a specific situation. It's no wonder that the ruts are so hard to get out of. If I am approaching the Bible because I think I'm supposed to read it, or thinking it's a magic self-help book to spiritual enlightenment, I'm doomed to fall into the same patterns. I think I've approached the Bible much too pragmatically, as if it's the handbook for proper Christian behavior. And once you've been living in Christian circles for years, read the Bible for decades, if behavior modification was the goal, then yeah, there's no reason for continuing reading it. If I understand the rules of baseball, I don't need to keep re-reading the rulebook. I know when I don't follow the rules or make an error. But once you've read the rules, the rulebook isn't necessary, except for occasionally glancing back to when unique situations present themselves and it isn't instantly clear what the rule is. But maybe, just maybe, the Bible was never intended to be a book of rules.

All bets are off if the Bible is more than that. Relationships are unpredictable, spontaneous and require attention and care to preserve and maintain. I know there isn't a formula, or a specific set of questions to ask, but I wonder if it would be help to begin every encounter with Scripture with asking God to reveal Himself, and to end every reading with reflection and meditation on how what we've just read shapes or refines who we understand God to be. Not approaching the Bible for a new principle to apply to help us arrive spiritually, not looking for better defenses against bad theology, not looking for a spiritual pick-me-up when we've had a hard week, but instead, coming to the Bible hungry to just know a little bit more about this God who created us and loves us deeply and longs for us to be close with Him.

I know I have fallen into the routine of reading, the rut of being too familiar with the Bible and losing sight of finding Christ in it. This article was meat in due season, as a good friend says. I'm convicted, encouraging and excited to read the Bible with this renewed perspective...