John 1:1-3 (NKJV): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” 

When I first started trying to diligently read my Bible I really struggled.  I had the desire, but reading was never my sharpest skill.  It was always a lot of work to keep my mind focused on what I was reading, it always tended to wander.  I could read something, look up for a moment, and completely forget what I just read.  So, I started taking notes when I would read.  This helped because it gave me a way to process what I read and re-present it through my own understanding.  If I didn’t understand it, I was forced to study it out until I did.  This actually helped me to develop a love for reading and studying the Bible.  I love to read different translations, research the meaning of words, and even explore the history of the times.

Studying to gain understanding takes time though.  And there would be nights I would hold my Bible up and think, it will take me years to get through this!  I would feel overwhelmed with the desire to know and understand everything that was in it right then.  But have you ever noticed that no matter how many times you read through the Bible, you always seem to see or learn something new that you didn’t see before?  It is a never-ending journey!  Reading the Bible isn’t something you accomplish, rather it actually accomplishes something in you.  Still, I felt like I was far behind where I should be.

One morning I decided that since studying took so much time I was just going to start listening to it.  I had an app on my phone so I could listen to it audibly.  I was going to start at the beginning and just go all the way through to the end.  I started in the morning getting ready for work, I would listen to it on the way to work, all day at work, on the way home, at the gym, making dinner, doing laundry, no matter what I was doing I was listening to it.  I got all the way through it in less than 6 weeks.  That was the first time I ever read the whole Bible in order like that.  To be honest before then I couldn’t really even tell you what much of the Old Testament was even about.  I knew all the stories from my childhood Sunday School classes: Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Moses and the Red Sea, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath.  I never knew them in context with God’s heart though. 

I always knew who God was in a sense; He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, He is over all, He is my heavenly Father, and if I get to go to heaven, I will spend eternity with Him.  I think that I knew Him more as a dictator though, than a Father.  But after reading through (listening to) the entire Bible in such a short amount of time something happened.  I discovered the heart of God.  I saw His love, felt His love, I even felt His pain and anguish over the evil that came over the Earth and tormented His people.  I saw that He is good, He is faithful, He is kind, He is true, He is love.

I never understood John 1:1 “Jesus is the Word.”  I didn’t know what that meant.  I’ve decided that you don’t have to understand everything in order to experience it.  I know this though, the Bible really is living, it accomplishes something in us.  It did in me.  The Bible doesn’t just talk about him, Jesus’ very self exists throughout the Bible.  When we spend time reading, studying and meditating on the Word, we are reading, studying and meditating on Jesus.  It is in this process (and I can testify to this personally) that Jesus himself becomes alive in us.  

The Passion Translation says it like this: “In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there.  And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God.  They were together – face-to-face, in the very beginning.  And through his creative inspiration this Living Expression made all things, for nothing has existence apart from him!”  Jesus is the Living Expression from which we and all creation are made and through which we and all creation exist!  If nothing has existence apart from him then what are we without him?  We came into being, we exist, from him and through him.  And so, when it says “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth God” it is saying that we exist and are sustained by Jesus, the Living Expression, the Word of God, the Bread of Life.

I discovered God, the Father through getting to know Jesus, the Word.  I discovered His heart for me.  And wow, there is nothing on the earth that could ever compare with the love that I discovered in his heart for me.  And I know that his heart is just as full of love for you too!  I know this through the revelation of Jesus I found in the Word.  Jesus reveals the heart of God.  The Bible is an open door right into His heart.  It testifies of His love for us!

I still have a lot to learn but in my growing hunger to know Jesus and in studying him as the Word I have found myself inside the Father’s heart; inside a love I could never comprehend but know I was made for.  Jesus is The Way to the Father’s heart.  If I can encourage you in anything may it be this: The Word of God is an open invitation into the heart of God, and it is the most powerful source of life there is.  Get into it however you can.  You will discover a whole new life that has been made available to you, a love that you were made for.  And once you taste of it, you will never be hungry for anything else.

“I need more revelation from your word to know more about you, for I’m in love with you!  Break open your word within me until revelation-light shines out!  Those with open hearts are given insight into your plans.  I open my mouth and inhale the word of God because I crave the revelation of your commands.”  Psalm 119:125, 130-131 (TPT)