You Know What You Love

One goal of every Christian is to have a closer walk with God. After all, isn't that the subject of every sermon, every hymn? How do we do that? We can have faith in a higher power, but how do we become closer with someone that we don't physically see?

We can pray. Jesus, while he was on Earth, made sure to take time out, away from his ministry, away from his disciples, away from the crowd, to pray. God assures us that He answers our prayers (Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22). How then do we hear His answers? How do we know what to do?

The answer is all at once simple and complex: the Bible.

God did give us an instruction book, though I am the first to confess that sometimes I wish it were a bit easier to understand. Sometimes I find the Bible confusing or even contradictory. Then, I really read it (read it carefully and daily, praying for understanding), and I find it is pretty simple. God loves us and He wants us to love Him.

In Sunday School this week, we discussed some Bible trivia. Here's a sample:

• What two men in the Bible never died? Genesis 5:21-24, II Kings 2:11)
• What are the 10 Commandments? (Exodus 20)
• How many books in the Bible? 66 (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New)
• What is the shortest book in the Bible? 3 John (219 words)

This was a fun game to play, and while I didn't know many of the answers myself, I was astounded to see how many did know the answers! It was a convicting moment for me.

That started me thinking about the kind of trivia that I do know. I know a lot about literature. For example, April 23 is Shakespeare's birthday, and June 16 is Bloomsday (for James Joyce's novel Ulysses). I know the difference between a comma and a semicolon, the difference between a dash and a hyphen. I know all sorts of useless information about the B-rated horror film. I used to say that it's important because it's my job as a scholar of Gothic literature. Yes, it's important, but not as important as my walk with Christ. Yet, I don't know the most important piece of literature in my life.

As this week continues on, I hope that you will think about where your heart lies. Is it true that you know what you love?