From Ben – 6 June 2021

This week as we further study the sermon on the mount, we will witness Jesus correcting a misconception. It is evident from the passage in Matthew 5:17-20, that some people had come to the wrong conclusion that Jesus would totally replace the O.T. scriptures, doing away with them and introducing a whole new bible. Well Jesus was quick to affirm the permanence and central place to all that God had already inspired in the O.T. and would yet give us in the N.T. Jesus confirmed the centrality and permanence of the scriptures.

For us, as God’s people, it is a wonderful gift to have an unchanging body of truth in a changing world. Having this treasure of scripture is indeed a huge privilege but the concern I have is, do we make use of it and its timeless teaching as we should? Let me encourage you to read and re-read its truth.

May I say that you need to manage your approach to the scriptures. I am a strong advocate of varying your approach to scripture. It is possible to become bored and stale with your bible reading if you never change your approach from year to year. There are lots of bible reading plans on the internet that can help you to vary your bible reading. I try to challenge myself with a new approach every year. Over the years I have sometimes read the bible in a year, other years I set aside just the N.T. for a more in depth read, and on a few occasions, I have set to read 4 N.T. books in the year, spending 3 months on each book, working through that book a dozen or more times in the 3-month period.

You version app has a number of innovative bible reading programs available free of charge. The bottom line of what I am saying is “read your bible with variety to keep its message fresh and interesting”. The bible’s own testimony about itself is that it is living and active. Be sure to read it creatively that it never becomes a lifeless exercise but rather a life-giving adventure.