Shot through the heart (in an awesome way)

This article from The Resurgence couldn't have been any more spot-on for me this morning. It all started when my Loving husband texted me, told me he'd read Proverbs 31 this morning and thought of me. After I stopped laughing (so that I wouldn't cry), I thought about reading the proverb, and then thought better of it because I remembered how awful it makes me feel to read about this super-'wife of noble of character' who apparently never sleeps and laughs at what's to come because she's so awesome that her family will never lack any good thing. 

 All, what I assume is twenty or so, of her children are clothed in royal colors and wake up every morning just to tell her how awesome she is, echoing the words of their father, her husband, and even the townspeople. "Right," I thought, "I'm not reading that." But, glutton for punishment that I am, I opened the thing up, read it, and, just as I knew I would, felt immediate shame and guilt. Ugh. The real kicker? Verse 27:

"She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness."
 

which, if you read my facebook status yesterday, you know is so not true of me. I feel like all I do sometimes is eat the bread of idleness (aka Bojangles biscuits). 

After reading this lovely, uplifting word (note: I think it's important to point out that, though I obviously didn't see it that way this morning, we know God's Word is always good, because He is always good & never changes, despite my feelings about it at any given moment, and yes, my feelings change moment by moment), I had to drop off a pie at Casey's workplace. Ironically (?), I was dropping off the pie because, though I'd intended to have it ready for him this morning, I'd not gotten around to making it until around nine. So, off I go, and good husband that he is, Casey starts asking if I'm okay. "Fine. I'm fine..." And, as I walk out the door, I mumble, "By the way, I'm Not the Proverbs 31 woman." 

 Of course, he made me come back and explain, and, of course, I had my case ready for why God doesn't like me because I'm lazy and always eating the bread of idleness, yada yada. And he says, "Wait, I have something you need to read." And there's the longest version EVER of why the following article is a good word to me today, and hopefully to you too. Read on.

How to Read the Bible

Ray Ortlund » God Scripture Gospel

There are two ways to read the Bible. We can read it as law and threat, or we can read it as promise and assurance. If we read the Bible as law, every page will feel like God glaring at us: “If you ever . . . .” And since we are all law-breakers at heart, the Bible will crush us. Even the promises will come across as law: “God will bless sinners—well, the ones who deserve it.” If we read the Bible as promise, every page will be hope from God. It will breathe new life into us. Even the commands will be sweetened with grace: “God will bless sinners—yes, sinners who break these laws.”

Which way of reading of the Bible is correct?

The apostle Paul explains: “The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. . . . God gave it to Abraham by a promise” (Gal 3:17-18). Here is Paul’s point. If we want to know whether we should read the Bible through the lens of law or promise, we can start reading on page one and see which comes first. And in fact, promise comes first—God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. The law is a later sidebar, in Exodus 20. The category “promise” is the larger, wraparound framework for everything else. The deepest message of the Bible is the grace of God for sinners. The Bible presents itself this way. The laws and commands and examples and warnings are all there. Let’s revere them. But we can read them with this as our foremost thought: “Jesus obeyed it all. He died for all my failure. And now he is changing my heart. I can read this page of the Bible with hope in his grace.”

I will leave with you the video I've been watching on repeat since yesterday's lunch with the girls. I think the video/song makes sense, only in light of the truth that "The deepest message of the Bible is the grace of God for sinners," because, we ALL KNOW that God is holy and cannot be near sin, but we also know that He so loved the world that He sent His  Son Jesus to the world, to live sinlessly, to die in our place, and to cleanse us from all our sin, so that we could be Near Him. Wow.