Wholly Bible: A View from the Pew

A Mysterious Message

By RAY WADDLE

I’m not usually superstitious. I don’t avoid the 13th floor, or knock on wood. I’m not inclined to open the Bible, shut my eyes and point to a lucky passage, hoping God will send a sudden personal message like a Ouija board.

But I was intrigued recently after I bought a nice used copy of the Bible.

At the book store I made sure it contained no scribbles or markings. It looked fine, good to go.
But when I got home with it, I noticed a single passage in this 2,000-page book was marked,
highlighted in yellow.

I was dismayed, until I read the passage: Proverbs 30:8-9 ...

 “Two things I ask of thee; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the
name of God.”    

What a prayer, what a mission statement. It spoke to everything -- my private temptations and lapses, our national politics and fear.

Every day now I hear people asking, Is the Bible true? What is the Bible’s message? The more I ponder this one passage, the further it spreads its wings. It asserts a mysterious relationship between God and us, but God’s wisdom is nourishing and available.

This passage, and many others like it, echo with answers to the question, What is biblical
truth?

In the Bible:

1. People matter. God choses to relate to human history, sometimes enigmatically, sometimes in sharp detail, from beginning to end.

2. Earth matters. God made it and said it was good.

3. Calling matters. The Bible is full of stories of unlikely people who receive a stubborn sense of divine calling.

4. Ethics matter. The prophets speak up for the Ten Commandments and against arrogance
and complacency.

5. Humility matters. The Psalms say “Be still and know that I am God.” The Bible makes clear that God is God and we are not.

6. Mercy matters. God cares for the underdog. We are invited to call upon divine mercy, and
we’re expected to show mercy to each other in return.

7. Jesus matters. The story of Jesus is the story of God’s care for us.

Open the Bible and you never know what’ll happen next. I thank the anonymous person
who “defaced” my copy, pointing to a rich hidden passage with a yellow magic marker.

--Nashville writer Ray Waddle is the author of Against the Grain: Unconventional Wisdom from Ecclesiastes. He can be reached at ray@raywaddle.com.