Microwave Popcorn

Microwave Popcorn – I think this is a good term for the way our society views life. Popcorn is pretty simple: large pot, a few kernels, a little oil, add a lid and some heat – presto! 3 minutes and you get popped corn :-o  But we want it NOW, no wait, that is much too long to wait, we wanted it THEN! (By the way, a lot of microwave popcorn packages also take 3 minutes) We’ve become so accustomed to our everyday conveniences that when something difficult arrives on the doorstep of our lives we either panic or refuse to open the door, and sometimes we even do both.

I’m on the mailing list of a large Christian book seller. Saturday’s mail brought me one of their catalogs, which I usually just recycle because I would rather shop their entire inventory online. But I glanced at the cover and noticed a book claiming that you can “understand the Bible in 30 days with this innovative 15-minute-a-day guide.” I have a couple problems with this . . .

First, no one will ever “understand” the Bible. Someone may have come up with a clever way to help you gain MORE understanding, but to say, without any qualification whatsoever, that this or that is a way to understand the Bible is a farce and a delusion – run away!

Second, 15 minutes a day WILL NOT give you a handle on the profound complexity of the Living Word of our Infinite God. If you are truly seeking a better understanding of your Bible, then make a serious commitment of some serious time!

You cannot microwave your way into a deeper knowledge of something that is, by its very nature, infinite. God’s word is hard to understand, YES! But I take solace in that fact because it helps me to KNOW it was not written by a bunch of men, but by the Holy Spirit using those men to bring us the infinite wisdom and truths of the Holy God.