I sometimes wonder how The Bible fits into everything I know about God, the universe, and life. What I know about faith and the parts of it that give me the most comfort rarely coincide with the messages of in the Bible. Then, yesterday I wrote my daily post. Just talking about my day and reflecting on it when some of the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together without my even trying to put them together.
I realized something important yesterday. The Bible was put together by humans. It was inspired by God, but it isn’t perfect. The Bible I read is a translation of a translation. There’s a high probability that I am not getting the original intent of the words of the original author because the words used in that language in that time may not have the same meaning as the words I use in my modern time. Most important, those words aren’t there to give me a historical account of what happened so many years ago, those words provide me with spiritual guidance.
When Jesus says that I should follow Him because He is the truth and the light and that those who have faith in Him will have eternal life. I have to ask myself, if that is a literal statement. Yesterday, I realized if I take the Bible literally, then everything falls apart. No wonder there are evangelical Christians following a political leader who has literally made a golden idol of himself.
God is spiritual truth. He is a light within each of our hearts if we only open our eyes to understand it. Most importantly, God transcends time and space. If I believe that He is all powerful and almighty, if He is the alpha and omega, if He is everything and within me, then yes I will have eternal life. Not the eternal life that I will never die, but an different eternal life where I will be in communion with God forever because whatever I am never really goes away. I exist in some form or another. God knows me all the days of my life. He has known me since I existed and will know me forever. That’s the message and it’s a miracle.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
