20. As important as the Bible is in my life with God, it should never become more important than God or a substitute for my relationship with God.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
Do you find it difficult to connect with God without your Bible?
What role does the Bible play in your relationship with God?
In your opinion, is the Bible a sacred object? That is, would God be offended if you were careless with you physical Bible?
From the very beginning of Scripture, God has invited us to turn the eyes of our hearts toward Him, to worship Him only, and to avoid worshiping substitutes for Him or idols. God’s very name makes it impossible for us to “capture” Him or reduce Him to something we can control. The Bible is one item that God has allowed us to have that represents Him.
The Bible is a doorway to God. It is a written message of God’s acts and feelings towards us. As important as Scripture is, however, we should never worship it. As obvious as this may seem, it can be easy for us to become overly focused on the Bible. There are several reasons this can happen.
First, there is a cultural bias towards a rational approach to life. Our education system focuses on information and rational learning. This approach to life and to the Bible originated over 500 years ago. Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, was influenced by rationalism and elevated the Bible to the primary way that we connect with God. Protestantism prioritizes the Bible. Though no one would intentionally place more importance on the Bible than God, the importance we give it creates the potential for it to become a substitute for a direct and personal relationship with God.
A second reason that we may “idolize” the Bible is that human nature has for millennia wanted to find a way to capture God. Exodus 33 records Moses’ desire to see God. But God responded that no one could see God’s glory and still live. There is a hiddenness with God that makes God who He is; somewhat unknowable, uncontainable, and without material representation. We live in a material world and automatically think in material terms. We form our identity around our material life; we aspire and strive after material things, and we become dependent on our material sources. The Bible, as a material object, can become a substitute for God. But God is spirit and cannot be reduced to a material reality, even in something as valuable and precious as His written word.
A final reason that we may tend to replace our relationship with God with a relationship with the Bible is that it is simply easier to hear the words of Scripture than to hear the voice of God. The words of the Bible, now translated into many versions that make the text readable and understandable even for children, are concrete, fixed, and direct. They are the same each time we read them. They don’t change, there is little mystery, and most are easy to understand and apply. It becomes easier for us to simply follow the rules of the Bible than to learn to hear God speaking to us.
But the Bible is not God; it is only a doorway to God and an introduction to Him. It should never take the place of Him. As difficult as it may be to cultivate a direct relationship with God outside of the Bible, it remains His desire. Our relationship is the path to the life of abundance that He desires for us.