I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
I have a thought in my head. It doesn’t keep me up at night, but it keeps popping up throughout the day—“Read the Bible!”
Long ago, people I trusted who were much wiser than I asked me to read the Bible. I followed their lead and was amazed by the words that I read. The knowledge and wisdom I gained from the Bible have ruled my life ever since. I certainly don’t know or understand everything in it; however, I think I know it pretty well, so why does the thought remain in my head—“Read the Bible!”
There must be so much more to know: clues that I’ve missed, hidden truths that can guide me, and things God wants me to know. Am I obsessing too much? Why is this so important to me? And why do I also feel a need to share this with others?
The other day I was responding to a different question, and the answer to all those above became crystal clear.
Most days of the week you can find me in a gym pushing and pulling iron. Although I am not a bodybuilder per se, I do look and act a bit like one. My muscles and veins are slightly more defined than most of those around me. And usually more visible, being that my sleeves somehow keep disappearing from my shirts.
When I’m in the gym, due to this ‘muscle-head’ affliction I’ve dealt myself, I’m sometimes asked for advice. A conversation that first starts with “Man, you sure look good for your age,” which I’m still not sure if it’s a compliment or a jab, soon turns into one about how to build muscle and lose fat.
Most times the questions are from a younger bodybuilder wannabe type, looking for my secrets to develop muscles that burst sleeves right off your shirts. It couldn’t just be scissors? Surely, nobody would choose to destroy all their shirts like that.
My answers are pretty basic and well rehearsed. I’ve asked the same questions to myself many times, so I know them well and have tested the answers extensively. I’ve found that the simple answer to how is it best to build muscle; No matter what exercise, or muscle group, or what amount of weight, or which workout machine you’re using, is always the same.
I always answer, “You need to push the muscle through its full range of motion to achieve maximum development. You need to lengthen your muscle into its fully stretched position, where it’s strongest.” Your muscles are built to contract; that’s how they function. To activate a muscle, your brain sends a command to your nervous system, which in turn signals your muscles to contract. It’s just about that simple. You do it every day; as a matter of fact, you do it millions of times a day. It’s as normal as eating peanut butter straight out of the jar. (Everybody does that, right?)
However, if you’re going to take the time to go to the gym, and the plan is to work out your muscles, giving them a good old thrashing so they can go home, rest up, and grow bigger? Well, you might want to remember that muscles are pretty good at contracting. And although contracting a muscle certainly helps develop it, they’re pretty used to contracting.
So, if you want to really work a muscle so hard that it has no choice but to adapt and grow, you need to put your muscle through a workout that it’s not used to. To genuinely push them near the edge of their limits, leaving them in a quivering mess and with no other option but to grow or go home… you have to make them stretch.
This may seem a bit obvious, since a muscle is strongest in its stretched position. Yet most workout enthusiasts will not work their muscles from this lengthened position. Why not? Either they don’t know fully how a muscle works, or they don’t know the fundamental importance of the stretch in the development of their muscles. Or maybe they simply are not willing to stretch—it’s just too uncomfortable.
The idea of stretching yourself to achieve your goals is fundamental. One can sit in a workout machine or under some weights and quickly go through the motions, pushing and pulling and never obtaining their desired goal. Or, they can choose to slow down a bit, think hard about what they are doing, and concentrate and stretch themselves. Ultimately putting themselves into an uncomfortable position, albeit one where they are the strongest and best able to develop some actual muscle.
Reading the Bible is much the same; you can pick it up, read a verse, a chapter, or the whole book, then set it back down, get up, and get on with things, without ever obtaining your ultimate goal that you had in reading the Bible in the first place. Or you could choose to slow down a bit, meditate on the words, and concentrate and stretch yourselves.
Jesus said time and time again that those that proclaimed they knew the scriptures the most were the ones that understood the least. This may be one of the very reasons Jesus hid many of His truths within the parables He told.
Jesus deemed His words worthy only to those willing to stretch themselves to gain understanding of His truths. To those with a genuine hunger for God, Jesus’ parables are both an effective and memorable way for Him to share His divine truths. Our Lord’s parables contain an enormous amount of truth in very few words, and they are not easily forgotten.
Jesus said that his words are spirit and life:“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)
He went on to say: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
We need His words, and we need them now! We need to stretch ourselves, even if it means putting ourselves in an uncomfortable position.
Likewise, we need to stretch to find His truths; we can’t just go through the motions, like the Pharisees or other religious leaders of the day. We must slow down, read, concentrate, meditate, and find and live within His truths. We cannot just rest on knowing the words; even Satan knew God’s words. He used God’s words from the Book of Moses when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Satan knew the words, but he didn’t use them as God had designed.
We need to know the meaning behind God’s words, His intent. — The words are the expression of God’s nature—to know our Creator is everything! Paul tells us, “All scriptures are God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, and many others all tell us we need the word. The stretch is what will get you there; it may be uncomfortable at first. It may seem like just reading it is already enough, that its function has been completed, just like a muscular contraction. But the juice is in the stretch; you need to dig deeper and deeper to comprehend.
Jesus was recorded in the Gospels over 70 times to have said, “I tell you the Truth.” He was God on earth as a man, face-to-face with his very own children, and yet He felt the need to say to them, over and over again, “I tell you the Truth.” Why?
Why did He want you to know that He was telling the truth?—He was telling you that God’s words are the truth. And He wants you to make them important in your life; He wants you to go find them and to understand their meaning.—Jesus knows accepting God’s truths are what will give you eternal life by His side. And if you don’t know them, if you don’t learn them, if you will not stretch yourself in every effort to understand and live within them, then it would all have been a waste. Jesus did not come down from above to waste His time…He came to save you and me.
Jesus has done His part; now it is up to us. He has left us an opening to Heaven. Believe in Him wholeheartedly, follow Him unconditionally, and know Him intimately. Stretch yourself before your Lord. Do not leave anything on the field. Read the Bible and uncover its truths; obey them, live by them, and become them.
Now you’re flexing your muscles; God’s will is achievable, but you’re going to need to stretch to get there.
“I tell you the Truth”
Read The Bible!