If you haven't already, check out the previous post on studying the Bible, or start from the beginning of this series on studying the Bible! Have you ever spent about five minutes "listening" to someone only to discover that you totally zoned out and didn't genuinely hear what they were saying? Isn't that the worst! It's especially bad when you feel that the other person has fully realized that you didn't hear them. At that point, I get that awful feeling and sometimes I even apologize, but there's nothing that will really help the other person feel ok about it. You showed just how genuinely you cared about that person, and it wasn't pretty. Unfortunately, I've done the same sort of thing when it comes to listening to God.

Have you ever read an entire page of the Bible or, for you YouVersion audio Bible fans, listened to an entire chapter and then realized that you weren't fully engaged? When that happens, I feel like all I did was listen to the words I was reading through a coffee filter. I simply sat there and strained all of God's glorious holiness, wisdom and righteousness through a coffee filter and only took the very smallest amount I could from it. While most of the time it isn't intentional, we can be greatly hindered by that. I think it's time that we take the coffee filters off and start positioning ourselves to truly hear God.

In 2 Corinthians 14, Paul discusses what happened when the Israelites, God's chosen people, were not positioned to hear his voice: "But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ." Did you catch that last part? Let's read it again: "...this veil can only be removed only by believing in Christ." I believe that when it comes to the Bible, it's not only a matter of physical and mental determination to focus and hear. I believe that when we truly need to position ourselves mentally and spiritually at Jesus' feet to truly hear his words while we read the Bible. Without Jesus in it, we will never grasp the true message that the Bible desires to communicate. Without Jesus, we can only taste the Bible through the filter of our own weak minds.

In other words, the Bible is not just a large collection of words. It is the living and breathing and loving words of God himself that can only be conveyed by God himself. Because of that, no amount of studying and reading and desire can reveal the truth that is inside if we don't prepare our hearts. If you desire to truly understand the Bible, pray this with me today: "Jesus, I believe that you are God. I believe that your words are not trapped on a page where they cannot be understood. I pray that you would open up my eyes to the true majesty, mystery and love that is within the Bible and that I would drink it in fully."

Please feel free to comment below! Also, please read the next post in this series when it comes out!