Have you ever watched TV while you’re on a diet? All of a sudden, you realize every other commercial is about food. The drive thru burger, the sugary lattes, the cook-at-home meal kits, the M&M characters, the funny Doritos commercial, and the brand new DQ Blizzard is half off. I remember being in a media class in college where we studied commercials for an entire semester, and I was fascinated by what it showed me about the average American- they think about food and are driven by food, A LOT.
And what are the offer half of commercials about? Mainly showing you a lovely lifestyle or product that is better than what you have, enticing you to spend your money on whatever they are selling. Let’s step outside of commercials- the draw to spend your money is everywhere! It’s what you think about as you pay your bills, see your neighbors new back porch, or have a nice car pull up next to you at the stop light. At some point this week, or maybe even today, you have thought to yourself “Man, I wish I could buy that”.
Food and money. Are we really that simple? The top two New Year’s Resolutions are always the same year after year- eat less food and spend less money. We are born with an insatiable desire and hunger for both of them.
This is why a verse in Psalm 19 stopped me in my tracks this year. There are 5 verses describing the law of the Lord, and one of the descriptions in verse 10 says this:
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Gold, the highest currency in the Bible, and honeycomb, the sweetest taste. This verse is telling us the Bible is better than cash and sugar. Could that possibly be true?
Psalm 119:14 also says “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches” and verse 72 says “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
Do you like the Bible?
I didn’t like the Bible the past 10 years. I shouldn’t say it that bluntly… but I just didn’t ever crave it. I thought it was nice when our pastor would teach sermons out of it, I loved when verses could give wisdom to a situation I was facing, and I thought the story of the gospel was bomb. I loved God and loved Christian community! But when I look at the last decade of my life, I very rarely sat down and read the Bible for fun. Instead I would use words like “discipline” to describe my time in the Bible. I never need discipline to force myself to eat more sugar or get more money!
I appreciated the Bible, but I didn’t enjoy it.
Do you like the Bible? Not just for sermons on wisdom or lessons to teach, but do you read it for fun? Do you enjoy it like eating chocolate cake? Do you consider it was valuable to your day as an extra pay check?
If not- there is no guilt, but there is an INVITATION to something more! Friend, you CAN enjoy the Bible that much! You CAN crave it like chocolate- that is what God tells us! For a long time, I would hear these verses and think “That must just be an exaggerated metaphor” or “I think this only applies to really spiritual vegans who don’t like sugar anyway.” Friend, as a fun-seeking, sugar loving, buying-nice-things party girl, I can tell you that is what happened to me- I now LOVE being in my Bible. Honestly I really do enjoy it more than sugar. This isn’t because I’m super spiritual, this is the work of God in our lives. This is the work of desiring more of Him and asking God to help you pursue more and more of Him.
Are you ready to ask God to give you a desire and a taste for the Bible? Are you willing to spend time in it to seek to know God, and end up enjoying it as much as chocolate?
Other perks.
It doesn’t stop with cash and sugar, Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 are both chapters of the Bible that give such beautiful descriptions of what the Bible can be for us. Specifically, these two verses in Psalm 19 really blew me away.
Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
First, let’s look at the adjectives that describe God’s word:
Perfect (complete, whole)
Sure (stands firm)
Right (corrects, no fault)
Pure (clean, sincere)
Now let’s look at what this verse says God’s word does for us:
Revives our soul
Making us wise
Rejoicing our heart
Enlightening our eyes
Did you notice what this perfect, firm, always right, and pure word of God does for us? Y’all. It literally impacts and revives our HEART, SOUL, and MIND. Sound familiar?
When everyone was asking Jesus what the greatest command in the entire Bible was, he looked at them and simply said these words, found in Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
How can we unlock this ability to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? How can we fall in love with our creator so deeply that our life is oriented around him all day long? How can we view time with him as the sweetest thing on the planet? How can we do the one thing God says is most important for our entire lives? Psalm 19 tells us this will happen as we get to know God in his Word! WOW!
Now What?
For me, much of this enjoyment started when I shifted the way I viewed the Bible (you can listen to my podcast episode on this or read my blog on it).
Another amazing step was actually learning how to read, understand, and enjoy the Bible on my own! I have loved using Simply Bible to help me do that.
There is more for you to enjoy and experience in the Bible. It’s not just for studying and for discipline, but for enjoyment and for reviving our heart, soul, and mind. The reason I want to scream it from the rooftop is I missed out on the BEAUTY of getting to know God through the Bible for years, and I just don’t want other Christians to miss it too.
It’s better than stacks of cash and chocolate cake with ice cream- don’t miss it!
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