Are You Curious?
Why reading the Bible can sometimes feel boring.
Do you ever find the Bible boring? Do you have trouble paying attention? Does your mind start to drift and you don’t even remember the last three paragraphs you just read?
Yes, I’m a pastor. Yes, that happens to me too.
The problem lies not with the Bible, but the ways we interact (or choose not to interact) with it. Furthermore, it’s a problem not just with our Bibles, but with most materials we interact with these days. Rather than digging deep into what we read or watch, we simply consume and then move on with our days. We don’t ask questions. We don’t get curious.
A video popped up on YouTube yesterday from Tucker Carlson titled What’s Going on with Ben Shapiro? Tucker Explains. There’s a whole thing going on right now with Tucker giving air time to people that Ben Shapiro considers to be quite evil people. That’s all I’ll say about it - look into it if you want. I didn’t bother watching the video, but I did click on it just to look at the comments. It took me quite some time to find one that actually questioned whatever Tucker had said instead of just ripping into Ben Shapiro. Again, I don’t know what all the video entailed, but you’re telling me that literally 99%+ of the comments I saw just took Tucker at his word and didn’t even bother asking a question?
If we’re honest, I think a lot of us are there. And I think that’s why at times we don’t find the Bible interesting. We lost our curiosity. We lost our ability to question. We lost the desire or ability to think for ourselves.
Just the other day I was reading through Genesis 17. I wrote down a couple questions: Is there any later biblical significance to the 12 princes promised to Ishmael? If “Sarah” is simply a different spelling for Sarai, both the Hebrew word for princess, why change her name?
I actually took the time to find some answers to my questions. Were those answers life changing? No. Could I have gone my whole life without knowing the answers? Yes. But that’s not the point. The point is, if we stop being curious, if we stop asking questions, if we stop interacting, if we turn the Bible into something we just snack on to check that box of being a good Christian, then we will never find it fulfilling.
So, next time you read the Bible, read it with curiosity and read until you have a question. Then, take time to search for answers. And if you need help, reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you understand God’s Word a little better today than you did yesterday.