faithMile

Every Father’s Day, I reflect on God the Father and his love. But God isn’t actually male. God is spirit and doesn’t have a gender. As I read on a recent message board, one could just as easily say “God the Mother”. Even some newer Bibles use gender-neutral language to describe God. So does it matter if God is referred to as “father?” I think it may.

Both mothers and fathers love their children, but very differently. A mother’s love can be seen as somewhat automatic. The child is literally a part of the mother from conception until birth. The mother gains an understanding of her child in the womb. She changes how she eats based on how the baby responds to different foods. She has to go to doctor appointments in order to check the baby’s progress. During a few months of the pregnancy, she can even “play” with the baby by pressing different spots on her stomach, sometimes eliciting a response. By the time the child is born, a lot of bonding has already occurred between baby and mother, and the love she has for her child is seemingly instant and effortless.

Fathers bond with their children as well, but only if they choose to. A father can walk away from his child at the moment of conception and not look back. A man can be a father and not even know there was a pregnancy at all. Even if he is aware, he can choose to be distant. He is not physically obligated to be at prenatal doctor appointments. He doesn’t have to adjust his diet. He doesn’t carry the child inside of him. He doesn’t give birth. In a way, a father has to choose to form a bond with his children. He chooses to stay. He chooses to love.

In that sense, God is both mother and father. God formed humans with direct involvement, as a mother. However, God chose to reveal himself to us as a father. Not because he wanted us to understand any aspect of maleness, but because he wanted to emphasize that, like a father, he has chosen to love us. He has chosen to claim us. To not deny us. To preserve our relationship at all costs.

Ephesians 1:3-4 tells us that God chose us even before he formed the earth. In I John 4:19 we learn that he loved us before we loved him. That, I believe, is the essence of why God presents himself to us as a father. He wants us to know that we are not just loved, we are chosen.

We all need to read the Bible on a regular basis, but sometimes things get in the way. We put it off or we consider it an “extra” thing that we will do after we get all of the important things under control. The problem with that is, we’ll never get the other things “handled”. Once we knock down one time obstacle, three more pop up to fill it. It becomes a vicious circle. So, how do we get out?

” I know I need to read the Bible, but I just don’t have time.”

Pencil It In!
We have our day-planners with us wherever we go, reminding us of important meetings, when to pick up the kids from practice, and who we need to call when we get home. If you’re having trouble finding time to study the Bible, plan a time for it and put that in your organizer, too! (If you don’t have an organizer, get one! It’s the best $20 you’ll ever spend!) The best thing to do is to create a fixed time to study, such as 7:15-7:45 every morning or evening. It is important to include a time to start and a time to stop. Stick to these times. When the starting time comes, stop whatever you are doing and open your Bible. At the end of your time, close your Bible — even if you feel you didn’t get anything out of it. Once you make Bible reading a priority and keep to your schedule, you will learn to focus in and make every reading time a productive one.

“I’ve tried to read the Bible, but I just don’t understand anything.”

Make a Method
Reading the Bible, as with reading anything else, is easier if you have an idea of what you’re looking for before you start to read. When you go into a bookstore, you read the backs of several books until you find one that tells you what you want to know, then you read that book. The introductions to the books of the Bible work in much the same way. Before you cozy into the section to read, scan the introductions. Create a few questions that you would like to have answered. Then, as you read, take notes. The notes can answer your earlier questions or that can be jotted down quote that speak to your spirit at that particular time. Try to write down the relationship to the quote and the situation in your life that makes it jump out at you. For instance, if you read a section on loving your neighbor, don’t just jot down the section, make notes about the conflict you had with a friend or co-worker and how that section helps you with your situation.

“It’s hard to concentrate on the Bible. My mind keeps wandering to other things.”

Create a Haven
Find a spot in your home or at work where you can read the Bible in peace. That spot can be as simple as pulling a TV tray up to your favorite chair or as elaborate as a home office or study. Block everything out of your mind except the Bible. The dishes can wait, your phone calls can wait, the dog can wait … you get the picture. Unless there happens to be a life-or-death emergency every time you start to read the Bible, the distractions that keep you from reading aren’t as much of a priority as you make them. This method works especially well when you combine it with “pencil it in”. If you have a specific time every day that you devote to Bible study, it is easier for other members of your household to adjust to your schedule.

“There’s so much to read. I don’t know where to start.”

Grow Into It
A good thing to do when you are trying to establish Bible reading habits is to read the shorter books first. The Epistles (found at the end of the New Testament) are relatively short as well as some of the books of the minor prophets (like Nahum). Instead of reading an entire book, you can also read sections at a time, or focus on one parable per study session. If you’re still having trouble, you can find several Bible study guides in the library or at a Christian bookstore.

When you sit in your haven at the appointed time to read or study your Bible, you will read with vigor and experience miracles and revelations — well, not exactly. Sometimes you’ll gain new insights, sometimes you’ll get distracted halfway through. Learning to walk with God is a lot like learning to walk on Earth — you have to crawl first. The point of reading the Bible is not that you do it perfectly every time, but that you stay committed to it no matter what. By reading your Bible, you will gain new insights and you will grow, but only if you stick with it.

by Katryna Starks

THE Best
If you watch television or flip through a magazine, you’ll be bombarded with advertisements that describe their product as “the best.” You will see words like “The #1 (product)”; “The Top-Selling”; “The Most Requested”, etc. All of these words describe “The Best”. They also imply that, in order for you to be the best, you have to buy the best. The only problem with that is, there can only be one “best.” And, since what’s “in” now often becomes “passe” five minutes from now, “the best” is always changing! How can you possibly keep up?

YOUR Best
Your best is what you can do all on your own. You can go to school, try to get good grades, get a good job and join the rat race, but, as someone once said “no matter how far you get in the rat race, you’re still a rat.” You can buy the clothes and keep up with the fashions. You can cycle through cars, homes and relationships in that quest for status. But, even when you get all that you were looking for, will you be satisfied? Proverbs 27:20 says, “Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man” (emphasis mine). That means that our eyes always want to see more, and since we want what we see, we will always want more. In other words, without the intervening grace of God, we will never be satisfied with what we have — or who we are.

GOD’S Best
God is your creator. Not only did God create you, He also created everyone else — and the world that we all live in. Furthermore, because God is everywhere and knows everything, He knew when He created you: where you would live, what jobs would be available, what the politics and fashions would be, etc. He even knew what neighborhood you would live in. Not only did God KNOW these things when He created you — He PLACED you in that situation. And He did it for a REASON! The book of Jeremiah says that God “knit you together in your mother’s womb.” Later Jeremiah 29:11 says “I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” The God who created you also has a PURPOSE for you! This purpose isn’t something that’s hidden away, either. If you pray to God and ask Him what it is, He will either tell you directly or guide you along the path toward it. So, instead of trying to “buy the best” to be the best, just find out God’s purpose for you and then live it!