Hi Daddy,
I've been doing some personal reading.
The book I was reading is "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom.
He's a Christian author who doesn't explicitly write Christian novels,
but the morals come through. I guess.
Well the book was a true account of the last couple of conversations
That the author had with one of his old professors.
The professor was dying of ALS
and wanted to share his thoughts on life with his student...
and a lot of what was said in the book really touched me.
BUT, after reading the book...I was confused...
because I never feel really emotionally moved after reading the Bible,
so I wondered why I felt that way reading a book....H
Hi Esther,
I think the Bible was not written in a way of touching our emotion.
It is written in quite a plain tone like rice.
It feels tasty only when you chew (meditate) it long.
If you have the word in the Bible in your heart and keep thinking about it,
the Holy Spirit works on the word and it grows in your heart.
Naturally, it takes time and patience.
In contrast, human writings are coated with many appealing rhetoric devices.
I don't deny that they may have important lessons.
But we need to remove the rhetoric devices
in order to see the point of what they are saying,
and many times, without such rhetoric devices, they are found pointless or empty.
What I am saying is this:
God's word is plain:
You are responsible to make it exciting in you through devoted meditation.
Human word is exciting:
You are responsible to make it plain through discernment
(removing such rhetoric devices).
Hebrews (New Testament) 5:12 says,
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you
the elementary truths of God's word all over again.
You need milk, not solid food!"
Also in 5:14, the author says,
"But solid food is for the mature,
who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
According to these verses,
there are "milk" and "solid food,"
and as you know, milk is for babies,
and solid food is for the mature.
The Bible, I believe, is the most solid food for readers,
and it requires your constant interaction with each verse and phrase in it
(not just drinking).