Some scriptures are easy to understand like when we're told not to lie, not to gossip, not to steal, not to kill, etc., but some scriptures have many layers thus are subject to one's interpretation of a biblical truth, such as Ecclesiastes 7:13 "Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?"
The above scripture has always intrigued me; it certainly can be interpreted several ways and this is where things get a little tricky. The problem is that people quote from the Bible to backup what they're saying sometimes when they might only be offering their interpretation of the scripture. I'm not saying we aren't right most of the time, I just think it's important to put it in perspective because we aren't always coming from an area that is black and white; sometimes our truths aren't universal truths and this can negatively affect relationships.
To correctly interpret the above scripture we'd need to know why God would make something imperfect? What is meant by "crooked," is it a character flaw, someone who is just a bad seed, did he create a liar and a thief? If we don't know the answers to these questions then we can't logically state the truth of the scripture without divine help which we do receive at times.
I believe that God sometimes reveals himself to us when we sit alone reading the scriptures. The reason I say this, and I'm sure you've experienced it as well, is that we can read the same scripture over and over again and not get anything out of it then one day we read it and a feeling of enlightenment comes over us and we finally understand what the scripture means. It's not that common sense and logic suddenly kicked in, instead it's about spiritual intercession.
One person's spiritual enlightenment can be different than another's because God gives us each according to our needs and at the right moment in our lives when we need it.
I find it interesting when I look back at various pages in my Bible and see where I wrote a note next to a verse, yet no longer have a clue what the note means. At the time the verse was speaking to me enough to where I had a thought I wanted to jot down, but then all of a sudden it has no special meaning that I'm aware of. It spoke to me when I needed it and that's the important thing.
The bottom line is there are certain truths in the Bible which are very clear but there are many verses that can speak to different people, differently. I don't think that sitting in judgement of others because they don't live up to our truths, is something God wants from his children. Our directives are very clear, love God through trying to please him and by so doing, we'll accomplish our second greatest commandment and that is to love others which is what God wants. There are over 23,000 verses in the Bible so it's easy to get confused, but being a Christian isn't all that complicated; love is always the right choice to make.
The above scripture has always intrigued me; it certainly can be interpreted several ways and this is where things get a little tricky. The problem is that people quote from the Bible to backup what they're saying sometimes when they might only be offering their interpretation of the scripture. I'm not saying we aren't right most of the time, I just think it's important to put it in perspective because we aren't always coming from an area that is black and white; sometimes our truths aren't universal truths and this can negatively affect relationships.
To correctly interpret the above scripture we'd need to know why God would make something imperfect? What is meant by "crooked," is it a character flaw, someone who is just a bad seed, did he create a liar and a thief? If we don't know the answers to these questions then we can't logically state the truth of the scripture without divine help which we do receive at times.
I believe that God sometimes reveals himself to us when we sit alone reading the scriptures. The reason I say this, and I'm sure you've experienced it as well, is that we can read the same scripture over and over again and not get anything out of it then one day we read it and a feeling of enlightenment comes over us and we finally understand what the scripture means. It's not that common sense and logic suddenly kicked in, instead it's about spiritual intercession.
One person's spiritual enlightenment can be different than another's because God gives us each according to our needs and at the right moment in our lives when we need it.
I find it interesting when I look back at various pages in my Bible and see where I wrote a note next to a verse, yet no longer have a clue what the note means. At the time the verse was speaking to me enough to where I had a thought I wanted to jot down, but then all of a sudden it has no special meaning that I'm aware of. It spoke to me when I needed it and that's the important thing.
The bottom line is there are certain truths in the Bible which are very clear but there are many verses that can speak to different people, differently. I don't think that sitting in judgement of others because they don't live up to our truths, is something God wants from his children. Our directives are very clear, love God through trying to please him and by so doing, we'll accomplish our second greatest commandment and that is to love others which is what God wants. There are over 23,000 verses in the Bible so it's easy to get confused, but being a Christian isn't all that complicated; love is always the right choice to make.
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