Hello everyone! My name is Ryan Weeter and today I’m going to be talking with you about making scripture personal! For a long time I couldn’t understand how people got certain things from scripture. Now, I’m not talking about some strange doctrine that leaves you reeling with your jaw hanging open! I’m talking about how someone could read through Jeremiah chapter 29 and pick out verse 11 and apply it to their lives.
Like I said just a moment ago, I couldn’t understand how people did it. I would read through the Bible and it would come across as a story or a parable. It would come across as something that would be nice to read and learn from, but not necessarily something that could be applied directly into your own life. So I went to God about it. I asked God to help me see the Bible as something to be applied directly into my life — to read it as an instruction manual and not a story book that you read to your kids.
Immediately, He reminded me of Jeremiah 1:5-7 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Then said I: Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth. But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.’” He gave me this example as exhibit number one. People use this and apply it to their own lives all the time. Especially to encourage young people in the church to step out and speak for their first time and to be bold. It’s also used to show that God knows us, cares for us, and loves us. I never understood how you could take it to be directed towards me. I always read it like a story. God and Jeremiah were having a conversation and it started Jeremiah’s ministry. Then God brought Romans 2 to my remembrance and that God is no respecter of persons. What God spoke over Jeremiah, God speaks over you. That scripture wasn’t just for Jeremiah, God isn’t going to put a qualification on it and say “Now Jeremiah, you’re special, I knew you from the womb, but nobody else is that special.” No, what was applied for Jeremiah, Moses, or the apostle Paul, applies to you.
He then showed me Philippians 4:19 which says “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” There’s a lot to this verse in and of itself, but God pointed out how Paul had made this personal. This was Paul saying to the Philippians “The Abrahamic God of the Jewish faith.” This was HIS God. This is MY God. This is YOUR God. Paul had a personal relationship with God and because of that, because this is HIS God, the Bible was meant for him. The Bible is God’s love letter to you. Every last word in the Bible is meant for you. Yeah, sure, every other Christian too, but when God was putting this together he was thinking about you. When God put your favorite scripture in the Bible he was thinking about how much you were going to like it and how it was going to speak to you. That simple realization put the whole thing into perspective. When God was speaking to Paul, he was speaking to me. When God was speaking to Jeremiah, he was speaking to me. We should be reading the Bible with the realization that this is God himself speaking directly to you. I have this picture of God lifting me up like a toddler and setting me in his lap as he begins to tell me that he knew me in my mother’s womb. That He Himself is going to supply everything that I will ever need.
The last thing revealed to me about this was a scripture I just recently discovered thanks to God. Colossians 1:9 which says “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of Hs will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” God wants you to know how the Bible applies to you. He wants you to see his will for you in his Word, to read the Bible with his divine wisdom, and to understand it. All we have to do is pray and ask.
These three things completely changed how I read the Bible. Realizing that the Bible isn’t just for Paul or Jeremiah. It’s not exclusive to them, but directly to me. This Bible was written specifically from God to me. That God wanted me to know how it applies to my life and that if I needed help understanding something in his Word, all I had to do was ask. What use is an instruction manual if you can’t understand the instruction manual? We can ask the maker himself and understand the instructions personally. So I encourage you to get in the word, read it, and make it personal. It will change your life. Be blessed!