Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. (2 Timothy 2:14).
That verse is most likely taken slightly out of context, but, this is ok. It fits for what I want to discuss at this particular moment.
I have long believed that some things are meant to be digested, not dissected. Poetry, and the Bible. In my opinion, these are the same thing... except one is written by man's heart; the other is written by the Holy Spirit. Ok, so maybe there are a few other differences as well. But, to me, poetry and the Bible are both meant to be felt. But anyway, to keep this not so confusing, allow me to ditch the poetry topic now and focus only on the Bible...
The Bible is meant to be felt. It's meant to be lived. It's meant to touch our very core - our soul. It is not meant to be dissected, each Book memorized and theorized. Each chapter scrutinized. Each verse analyzed and categorized.
I generally won't read anything that is simply a dissection of scripture. Yes, scripture is good. Yes, it has a place in our writing and reading. But when it is over-analyzed, it becomes paralyzingly mind-numbing. Or, perhaps, I should say soul-numbing. If we're too busy picking apart every word and sentence, we miss the true meaning behind the verse. We don't give it a chance to surround our soul - we don't give it a chance to enter there.
Wanting to understand scripture is a good endeavor. But just be certain that you're taking time to digest the words... not just dissect them.
Just a thought.
I agree. I think scripture should be ingested. Become part of your essence.
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