Rhythm Week Four: Connecting with God in His Story

One way we can connect with God is through reading Scripture. Scripture is many things, but, we’re going to describe it as three things in specific: Scripture is a story. Scripture is teaching. Scripture is connection.

Scripture is a story.

Or rather, Scripture is a collection of stories. It spans over 4000 years and has 35-40 authors, and took roughly 300 years to put together in its current form. It tells the story of God and His people. And it is our story. As Christians, we are continuing this story in our present day and time. We don’t read Scripture to learn historical facts, despite this importance. We study Scripture to learn the narrative of God, where we have come as a people-group and our place in it.

Scripture is teaching.

We all have a longing to live a really good life, to be good people, and we all want to know how to live a life of meaning. In Scripture, particularly in the teachings of Jesus, we have God’s instructions on how to live life to the fullest, and to be people who are glad to be. While there may not be “all the answers” to specifics, and there are a lot of things we address in our daily life that Scripture doesn’t mention, the wisdom in Scripture is meant to grow us into people who are able to make wise choices that are in aliment with God’s desires.

Scripture is connection.

When we engage in Scripture, we are able to connect with God. We learn about His likes, dislikes. We learn about His emotions, desires, wants and needs. We learn about His nature, character and essence. But, in Scripture, we also connect with our own selves. We learn about the condition of our hearts. We learn about our own desires, wants and hopes. But what’s more, we connect with the larger Christian community. Billions of people have read and studied and prayed the very words we’re reading, studying, and praying. Jesus prayed the Psalms, just as we do! How cool is that!

So, reading, studying, praying, and memorizing Scripture is a way for us to love God, live like Jesus, and change the world!