Reading Right

As I prepared a study in the book of Proverbs, a thought crossed my mind.  How many times in the past I have read those sayings of divine wisdom almost as I would read quotes from famous people?  Job 12:11 says, "Does not the ear test words and the mouth taste its food?"  What tastes lovely to one person may not appeal to someone else.  There is a range of subjectivity to personal preferences when it comes to food.  When we hear or read a quote, a process similar to tasting food is begun.  As we chew the food, no hands are forcing us to do so.  At any moment, we can decide that bite is simply too much to handle and spit it out. As we read a statement or hear words spoken, we weigh the words against our beliefs.  We can choose to reject what is said or file it away for future use because we agree.

The absolute worst way to read the Bible is to weigh the proverbs or sayings against our own experience or opinions.  The Bible is not true by virtue of my agreeing with it, but on the basis that it is actually what it claims to be in its entirety:  the Spirit-breathed Word of God.  What a mistake we make when we read a proverb and say, "Hmm, does my experience agree with this statement?  Do my prior opinions line up with the implications of what is being said?  Because I can think of an example from my own life to support it or I already happen to agree, I believe it is true."  This is a grave error and one to be avoided at all cost.  The Bible is not like a book of quotes where we are free to pick and choose what is true based upon our feelings, experience, or implications we agree with already.  It must be viewed as absolutely authoritative and true, trumping all my opinions, even my own experience viewed through the skewed perspective of the passage of time and my human frame.

There is a right way to read scripture if we are convinced it is the Word of God from a position of belief.  It is true on the basis of the righteousness of the Author, who through the Holy Spirit moved men to pen these immortal passages.  It's true that we can draw many examples to illustrate the truth of scripture from the pages of the Bible, our own lives, the world in which we live, confirmed through history.  Confirmation is everywhere for those who read with personal knowledge of the God who wrote those words.  They are indeed the words of life and that without controversy.