When I was learning to read, I would read everything: my parents’ novels (a sentence or two was about all I could take), newspaper articles and cereal boxes at breakfast, shampoo bottles while showering, dictionaries and encyclopedias, you name it. I quickly realized there were some things I did not want to read, books as boring as the evening news my parents watched every night. As I got older, I had friends who actually DID read encyclopedias and dictionaries. I tried. I wanted to be smart like that. But it was too boring. I told myself I was a different breed—an “active child” as my teachers would say. No one expects an active child to read. Thus, I found my excuse. I could scratch reading off my list. Reading is for other kids. Kids who are alien to me, foreign kids—kids of a different breed.
In the book of Hosea, God complains about His people. They rebel, they worship idols, and they tell themselves God’s ways don’t apply to them.
“Though I were to write out … ten thousand points of My instruction, My words would be regarded as something strange” Hosea 8:12.
What an interesting comment from God Himself: I could write ten thousand life hacks and my people would shrug and say, “yeah, but that won’t work for me. I’m an active child.”
Don’t we do that? We hear a scripture, and immediately dismiss it telling ourselves it does not apply to us. We think we are not like other people. We tell ourselves we are alien or foreign or strange. Or we tell ourselves God’s truths are alien or foreign or strange.
In fact, various translations of Hosea 8:12 use those very words: people hear God’s word and tell themselves it is ‘strange’ or ‘alien’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘irrelevant’ or ‘does not apply.’ The Message paraphrase says people know about God’s words, but “pretend they can’t read it.” (Do you do that? Do you look at the boring parts—or not so boring parts—and just give up?)
When young Frank McCourt reads his first two lines of Shakespeare, he says “I don’t know what it means and I don’t care because … it’s like having jewels in my mouth when I say the words” (ANGELA’S ASHES).
JEWELS IN MY MOUTH. The Bible is one of the few works that rivals the poetry of Shakespeare. But more importantly—whether it SOUNDS like jewels in your mouth or not—the message is more valuable than diamonds.
Stop telling yourself you are different from everyone else. You are not. GOD WROTE THE BIBLE FOR YOU. He knows your reading ability, your exhaustion, your distractions. But He also knows you can read it and learn it, if you will let Him help you. All it takes is sitting down and opening the book.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 