Reading the Bible is like looking at the above picture.It is actually a collection of individual panels, each one a picture of a person, place or thing. Some panels are light, some are dark, each one contributes to the picture as a whole. The problem is, what is it a picture of? Up close, it does not look like much. Each panel raises questions as to what it is, why it is there, what it means? Click the image to see what it looks like enlarged!
God has put these panels (stories, events, teachings) together for a purpose. Not all of them are easy to understand, and some of them are quite dark (wars, violence, bloodshed, sexual immorality). Does God have a purpose for all of this? Does it somehow fit into God’s scheme of things?
Here we see that somehow each panel contributes to the whole picture. (I tried to find a mosiac that would be of Jesus, but could not find one). The point is, when we see all of the stories, events and teachings in the Bible together, they form a picture of Jesus, the revelation (or Word) of God. All of the panels belong there, even the dark ones, to better help us see Jesus.
So when you read through a difficult chapter, or when you stumble through a tough (or boring) passage, ask yourself, how does this contribute to the message about Jesus? How does this show us our need for Jesus, or how God provides for our need through Jesus?
How greatly this also applies to our own personal lives. When all the pieces of my life are laid out, stories, events, the light and dark shades, the easy and the difficult times—– how does this contribute to the message about Jesus? How does this show us our need for Jesus, or how God provides for our need through Jesus?
LORD, what picture will the tapestry or mosaic of my life say when it’s all been said and done?