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In this chapter we will consider the way to enjoy God through reading the Word. There are many ways to read the Bible. One can find hundreds of ways to study the Bible in Christianity, but I would like us to consider the best and most profitable way. We may call this the life-study way to read the Bible. This is the simplest and the most beneficial way to read the Bible.
Our concept concerning reading the Bible needs to be simplified. We should not consider that it is difficult to read the Bible. Many people think that the Bible is a difficult book. They think that since the Bible is the canon of the Christian religion, they can never understand the Bible. This concept frustrates our ability to understand the Bible. However, we must consider that reading the Bible is as simple as eating. We all admit that eating is a simple matter. It is not easy to cook a meal, but it is very easy to eat the meal. This also applies to reading the Bible. God does not want us to write the Bible; He wants us to read the Bible. We do not need to invent anything or to investigate. Strictly speaking, when we come to the Bible, we come to the presence of God to be fed by God. Hence, we must first consider that reading the Bible is a simple matter.
This consideration, however, does not mean that we do not need to read the Bible. No one can say that because eating is easy, he does not need to eat. Instead, this consideration should encourage everyone to eat.
Saying that it is simple to read the Bible does not mean that it is easy to understand it. Even if I read the Bible for another six thousand years, I will not fully understand it. No one can fully comprehend the Bible. The more one reads it, the more he feels he does not understand it. Thirty years ago I thought that I understood one book of the Bible, but today I can say that I do not truly understand any book of the Bible. The Bible is very rich, and no one can fully understand it. Although it is simple to read the Bible, it is difficult to fully understand the Bible; nevertheless, it is very easy to receive food from the Bible. No matter which chapter and which verse we read, we can find rich food and be filled because the Bible is full of nutrition.
My burden is first to help us accept that reading the Bible is a simple matter. We thank God that the Bible has been written and is in our hands. It is very easy for us to obtain food from the Bible. We do not even need much education to be fed with the Bible. We can be fed even if we do not recognize one hundred percent of the words in the Bible. Reading the Bible is a simple matter.
When we come to the Bible in a simple way, we should never set our mind on finding doctrines in the Bible. We should not focus on studying the Bible. When we eat, we do not set our mind to study our food. When we come to eat, it is best not to know anything. If we come with a heart to study, we will get ourselves into trouble. If we set our mind to study how the various dishes on a table were prepared and how they should taste, the food will be cold before we have finished. Others at the table will be satisfied, but our stomach will be empty. Our studying the food frustrates our eating. In the same way, when we come to the Bible, we should not come with a heart to study doctrine or to investigate some truth. If we have such a mind, we will be unable to enjoy God; we will not find food in His Word.
When we come to the Bible, we also need to drop our concepts. We must never wear glasses that are colored by our concepts. We all have a pair of colored glasses within us that prevents us from knowing the true color and meaning of the Bible. If we wear green glasses and look at a white book, the book will appear to be green, and we will not see the true color of the book. It is difficult to find a person who does not come to the Bible with colored glasses. Those from Zheqiang wear Zheqiang glasses. Those from Shantung wear Shantung glasses. Those from England wear British glasses, and those from America wear American glasses. The type of person we are determines the kind of Bible we have, because the type of person we are determines the type of glasses we wear, and the color of our glasses determines the color of our Bible. A student of science comes to the Bible with a pair of “scientific” glasses and has a Bible of science. A student of Confucius wears “Confucian” glasses and has a Bible of Confucian teachings. A literature student wears “literary” glasses and has a Bible of literature. The type of person we are determines the type of glasses we have, and our glasses determine the type of Bible we read. Therefore, in coming to the Bible, we need to remove the glasses of our concepts before we can see the true color and meaning of the Scriptures.
After listening to the testimonies of some of the brothers concerning their reading of the Word, I realize that it is difficult to find one person who does not read the Bible with colored glasses. A person reading Matthew 11 might be touched only by the Lord’s word about being meek and lowly in heart. Please do not misunderstand me. This does not mean that being meek and lowly in heart is something bad. Being meek and lowly in heart is something very good; the Lord Himself spoke this word. But all men who have some idea of ethics and morality, both from the East and from the West, focus on the words meek and lowly when they come to Matthew 11. They may actually be wearing glasses of meekness and lowliness before they read Matthew 11. There is no need for them to read Matthew 11, since they already value the concept of meekness and lowliness. Brothers and sisters, we must drop our concepts when we come to the Bible. We must take off our inner glasses; we must break them before we can see the true color and meaning of the Bible. If we bring in our concept, we will lose sight of the true meaning of the Bible.
Here is another example. Ten years ago a young brother was offended by an elder. Daily he was bothered by the thought that an elder, who should be compassionate toward others, could offend a person in such a way. This thought took root in him so that when he came to the Bible, he subconsciously looked for passages that spoke of elders being compassionate to others and of older ones being sensitive to younger ones. Although he was not looking for such passages intentionally, this concept was hidden in him. For many days his reading of the Bible was influenced by this concept. He spent much time reading the Bible but did not receive anything. Then one day he read 1 Peter 5:3, which speaks of elders not lording it over the flock but being patterns. His eyes lit up, and he said, “This is so good! I have seen a great light! I did not realize that the Bible is so clear about elders not lording it over others.” Dear brothers and sisters, did he really see light? If that was light, then he did not receive it from the Bible; he had this “light” before he came to the Bible. This is what it means to read the Bible with the glasses of our concepts. The result of such reading is but a projection of one’s own concepts.
Here is another true story. Over ten years ago I stayed in the home of a Christian couple. One morning at breakfast we began to speak about our experience of reading the Word and praying. The husband said that he read Ephesians 5 that morning and found the good teaching of wives submitting to their husbands. The wife said that she too had read Ephesians 5 that morning and had found an even higher teaching than the one her husband had found. She found that husbands should love their wives just as Christ loves the church. The husband found that the wife should submit to the husband, and the wife found that the husband should love the wife. This shows that the way we read the Word is a reflection of our person. From our conversation it became clear that the husband felt that his wife was assuming too much headship, was not keeping her place, and needed to submit to him as her husband. At the same time, the wife felt that her husband was not sensitive enough to her and did not love her enough. If they had not both read Ephesians 5 that morning, I would not have known them that well. Outwardly speaking, the two seemed like a very good couple, but through that conversation I fully understood what was transpiring within them. Their reading of the Word fully exposed them.
The kind of Bible we have reflects the type of person we are. We cannot hide. If we do not want our reading to be a reflection of what we are, and if we want to have the original meaning of the Bible, we need to remove our glasses. A man from Zheqiang must remove his Zheqiang glasses, and a man from Shantung must remove his Shantung glasses. A slow person must set aside his slow concept, and a quick person must set aside his quick concept.
When I was young, I knew an old man who was a very slow person. He spoke about not being hasty in doing anything with God, because nothing hasty, quick, or hurried is from God. He said that the Bible does not give us one instance of God running, because He is a God who is never in haste, who is never quick. With God everything is slow. Since I thought this was very reasonable, I did everything slowly for a few days under the influence of this teaching. However, after a few years I heard another servant of God say that God ran at least once in the Bible. He said that in Luke 15 the father, who depicts God, ran to the prodigal son and kissed him. He showed everyone that God ran at least once. We may think that these are silly stories, but they show that the kind of person we are determines the kind of Bible we read. The Bible of a slow person confirms his slowness, and the Bible of a quick person confirms his quickness. The teachings obtained from the Bible are a reflection of the person who is reading it.
I knew a quick-tempered man whose voice was like thunder and whose face became red whenever he spoke. One day he said that in the Bible when God appears, smoke goes up from His nostrils, and His voice is like thunder (Psa. 18:8, 13). When I heard this, I knew that I was speaking to a quick-tempered man with a voice like thunder. We may think that this is funny. A mild person has a “mild” Bible, an angry person, an “angry” Bible, a rough person, a “rough” Bible, and a fine person, a “fine” Bible. There is no exception to this. Let me repeat, the kind of Bible we have reflects the kind of person we are. Consequently, it is difficult to find a person who knows the true meaning of the Bible. A person is a good reader of the Bible if he can read it according to its original taste and color.
We must consider reading the Bible to be a simple matter, and we must drop the thought of studying. Such a thought will only frustrate our reading of the Word. We also must not trust in our concepts; rather, we should drop them and throw away all our glasses.
When we come to the Bible, we also should not look for inspiration. We should not try to find or create some kind of inspiration. We do not need to seek inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Inspiration from the Holy Spirit is like radio waves in the air; as long as we adjust to the right frequency in our spirit, the radio signals will come. When we purposely look for something, we oftentimes find something false. When many brothers and sisters read the Bible, they create their own inspiration. This is unnecessary. The Spirit who has been sent forth to all the earth is omnipresent and all-pervading. As long as the frequency in our spirit is right and the condition of our spirit is proper, we do not need to look for or think about inspiration when we come to the Bible; inspiration surely will come.
I hope that God’s children can grasp these four points. We should realize that reading the Bible is a simple matter, we should not come with a heart to study, we should drop our concepts, and we should not look for our own inspiration. May we all practice these four points.
Let us now consider our practice. When we come to read the Word, we must turn our being from outward things. This is commonly known as quieting ourselves, being calm. As soon as we are calm, our whole being can be turned to the spirit. At this point we must ignore our concepts. Instead of having the intention of investigating something in the Word, we should have a seeking heart to contact God Himself, to eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him through our reading. Rather than reading random portions of the Bible, we should simply follow a regular schedule and continue reading from where we stopped the day before. As we read the Bible, we should not entertain different thoughts or try to study or investigate a topic, in order for the words of the Bible to spontaneously touch our inner being.
Suppose we are reading Matthew 11. In this chapter John the Baptist, the Lord’s first faithful witness, was in prison. After hearing about the miracles that the Lord performed in healing the sick, casting out demons, and even resurrecting the dead, John wondered how people who had done nothing for the Lord could receive such miracles, but he received no deliverance. Hence, he sent men to question the Lord, asking if He was indeed the coming Christ. In other words, if the Lord was the Christ, He should deliver John from prison, and if He was not, John should wait for someone else. This word was meant to provoke the Lord Jesus. The Lord replied, saying, “Blessed is he who is not stumbled because of Me” (v. 6). If our inner being is touched with the Lord’s response, we may say to the Lord, “Even though I have served You faithfully, and You do not seem to care for me in my sufferings and are doing many things for others who seem to have nothing to do with You, I am not stumbled by You. On the contrary, I am blessed.” Such a response does not come from our concepts; it is not imagined, and it does not come from study. Rather, the Holy Spirit has touched us and inspired us as we were reading the Word in a simple way. This is the way to eat the Word.
For this reason, when we read the Word, we must learn to be simple; when we eat, we are simple. We do not need to have any concepts, we do not need to have the intention of learning something, and we do not need to seek for inspiration. We simply need to read. As we read, the Holy Spirit will frequently touch our inner being with the Word. The intention to study will be a frustration to our reading. Any concepts will veil the true picture of the Bible. The thought of receiving inspiration will often produce false inspiration. We must drop these things. When we come to the word, we must be very simple, having the attitude of not wanting anything and not knowing anything. All we want is to contact God in His Word. Then according to the condition in our spirit, the Spirit will use the words of the Bible to touch our inner being in an appropriate way, and we will receive something from the Bible. When we receive, we must still restrict our mind from thinking too much. We must exercise our spirit to turn the words that touch us into prayer. Then our reading will reach a higher plane, and we will always be richly fed when we read the Word.
We may wonder how a reading that does not pay attention to spiritual inspiration can help us understand the Bible. However, those with the best understanding of the Bible read in this way. If we would daily read with the sole intention of eating the Word and being nourished by God’s riches, after some time we will see that the Bible is an open book to us. While the light of the Bible will shine brightly before us, we will also feel that no one can fully understand this book. It is inexhaustible. No matter how we approach it, it always yields fresh riches and brings new nourishment.
I hope that all the brothers and sisters will take this word to be simple by considering that the reading of the Word is a simple matter. We should not try to study. We should drop our concepts, and we should not seek for any inspiration. This is what it means to be simple. If we can be this simple, our reading of the Bible will be profitable. Then when a word touches us, we must restrict our thoughts and exercise our spirit to digest the word. It is better not to have many thoughts. We must remain in the Spirit’s inspiration and receive the words that touch us. Spontaneously, we will exercise our spirit to turn what touches us into prayer. In this way our reading will be an absorption of His nourishment and an enjoyment and satisfaction. As we eat God’s Word and absorb God, we will enter into the experience of enjoying God through reading His Word.
