Do you have a set of favorite songs? I'm sure you do. I love music, and I love how music possesses incredible power. There are many songs that I love deeply. What I have noticed about a number of my favorite songs, however, is that they are not necessarily my favorites because of the musical quality or anything like that. They are my favorites because there are memories attached to them. Music has an ability to cause us to recall significant moments in our pasts--times of joy and heartache, contentment and disappointment, exuberance and anger. We come back to these songs again and again because of the way they have intersected our lives.
I think that Scripture often works in the same way.
This last Sunday I had the chance to preach on Lamentations 3. I always refer to Lamentations 3 as one of my "go-to passages." Maybe you have a set of go-to passages as well--those passages of Scripture that you keep in your back pocket and find yourself coming to again and again as you face certain situations.
Since preaching that sermon, I have been reflecting on which biblical passages I would put in that category of my go-to passages. There are several, and the reason they qualify for this category is the way they have spoken into my life at significant moments in my past.
For example, when I'm dealing with sorrow and grief, I tend to flip over to that passage in Lamentations 3. This habit grew out of the my mourning over my grandmother's terminal illness some years ago, and I noticed this passage as I sat on the couch at my uncle's house wondering what to do with the tumultuous storm within me.
When I get down about myself and question my identity or worth, I turn to Psalm 139. The first time I can think of that I came across this passage was when I was in middle school and was (as most middle schoolers do at some point) dealing with these very issues.
When I feel distracted, overwhelmed, and frazzled, I need to remind myself of Luke 10:38-42. Several years ago I had a spring during which I was constantly up-and-down emotionally, and I stopped shaving or looking people in the eye, but rather shuffled around my college campus grumbling to myself. That's when I needed Jesus to tell me, "David, David, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed."
When the entropy of the world discourages me, I go to Revelation 21:1-8. In May 2011, I spent an evening watching news reports that showed the destruction from a tornado in Joplin, Missouri--a town that I loved very much. Just to keep from losing my mind, I needed to remind myself of John's prediction of a day when there will be no more pain or crying or tears or death, because God will do what he does best and make things new.
A good deal of my time is spent reading and studying the Bible. Much of the time (and perhaps this is a negative commentary on my own attitude), my reading of Scripture can be held at arm's length from the issues of my own life. I don't mean that I'm not constantly challenged by God's Word or that I approach it from a merely academic point of view. But oftentimes, what I read on a certain day does not seem a piercingly relevant to my life as it does on other occasions. What I love about Scripture, however, is the way that it intersects our lives. It's not just a book that we study, memorize, and teach. It's one that speaks to us in our life-situations. It truly is "living and active" (Heb. 4:12). Through it, God speaks to his people who are ready to listen.
What about you? What are your go-to passages?
No comments:
Post a Comment