Dross or gold?

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Psalm 119.105

Are you bored or thrilled by the Bible? Do you approach it as many would approach cod-liver oil: unpleasant but good for one? The answer will largely depend on how you apply yourself to the text. Do you skim over the surface? Do you depend on what someone else tells you about it? Or do you go deep, searching the scriptures for the God who inspired them, teasing out the hidden nuances, puzzling over the difficult bits, wrestling until - like Jacob - you emerge victorious, with a more intimate relationship?

Bible-lite will inevitably lead to brittle faith. We need a more robust engagement with scripture if we are going to be ready to cope with the challenges of life. The wonder of the Bible is not that it presents us with a set of easy-to-follow rules for living (although there is plenty of guidance to be found) but that it ushers us into a more profound relationship with our Creator, Redeemer and Friend, so that we may embrace eternal life, as we negotiate mortal life, as thereby grow in maturity and into that Christ-likeness which prepares us for heaven.

There is much more to be said but, rather than "listen" to me prattling on, why not open the Bible and let the Word speak for the Word's self? Where to begin? Try the Psalms, which express the highs and lows of real people trying to live faithfully...