Have you ever started a DIY project, only to find out you bit off more than you could chew, struggling until you finally give in and call a professional? Like starting a DIY project at home thinking you had all the necessary tools, only to realize halfway through that it鈥檚 beyond your abilities. What you think you know and what you find you actually know don鈥檛 line up.
The men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus were in a similar predicament. They had understood that Jesus, whom they had followed with some of the broader crowd of disciples, would be a political leader who would save them from the oppression of Rome. When the religious leaders conspired with the Romans to crucify Jesus, everything they thought they knew hit a stumbling block.
Jesus didn鈥檛 leave them in their ignorance. He met with them and used what we call the Old Testament to explain who he is. Who he really is, not who they assumed he would be.
Sometimes believers fall into this trap, too. We think we know who Jesus is and what he wants from us. But until we read the Bible, both the New Testament and the Old, we鈥檒l have an inaccurate picture of who Jesus really is. Reading the Bible can be intimidating. Words we can鈥檛 pronounce, a culture we don鈥檛 understand, and concepts that don鈥檛 line up with what the world expects of us. God doesn鈥檛 want us to be confused about who he is; ask him to help you understand the words of the Bible, which is God鈥檚 letter to us about who he is, who we are, and how he wants us to live.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the Bible. You wrote it because you want me to know you. You want a relationship with me, and until I see you face to face, I can know you better by reading it. Help me to understand it so I can love you better and love the people around me better. Amen