“How do I read the Bible?” is a question I get often. The statement that follows is, “It seems so confusing.” or “I’m not much of reader”. My hope in the next few posts is to offer some suggestions on reading the Bible. My heart is that you would know God better. He has chosen to communicate to us in a variety of ways, one of which is the Bible. The Bible wasn’t man’s invention. If God chose to communicate to us through the written word and I care, then I ought to learn how to receive his message the best I can. This will require some work. It would be pursued best in community with others. Will reap huge rewards if pursued consistently. This week let me explain OUA.
OUA is a short acronym that I use for a three step process for reading when I want more than a casual knowledge of the story.
“O” stands for observe. Observe what you are reading. I know it sounds obvious, but most people read for different reasons and never get around to actually seeing what they are reading. Who are the people I am reading about in this chunk? Where are they, if it tells me. What is the conversation about, if there is a conversation? What is being asked or stated? Were the main characters moving or fixed in one location? Did any “major” things occur? Any “minor” things? Please do not skip ahead to step two or three too quickly. When we skip ahead we stop seeing or observing. Kind of like figuring out hat you are going to say in a conversation before the other person gets done talking…you miss what they are really saying.
“U” stands for understand. Seek to understand what you have just observed. For this start asking why questions. The basic idea is to make sense of what you have observed after you have observed it. For instance when Jesus fed the 5000. It says the 5000 were men and that the wives and children were not counted. So the total amount of people was probably 15,000 or 20,000 people. Making a guess, who were the people that made up this crowd, or any crowd for that matter? Businessmen, businesswomen, students, graduates, dropouts, people who gossiped, people who lied, people who were loners, people who partied, people with long hair, people who were honestly seeking God’s way, people who were along for the ride,…all kinds of people. And who did Jesus feed? All of them. Why? Because he loved people. Because there was a real need. Because he wanted to teach his disciples a lesson. Did I say because he loved people? He didn’t just feed the pretty people. He didn’t just feed the people who agreed with him. And when he fed them they had all they wanted to eat. He fed them enough so they could be filled up. Not just a morsel or two per person. He was generous in feeding them. Which leads us to the last letter of the acronym.
“A” stands for apply. Take what you have understood and apply it to your knowledge of Jesus to how you live your life. Using the story of the 5000. I can expect Jesus to be generous with me. I can expect that Jesus is no respecter of persons. He still loves everyone. When I come to him I should expect the same treatment as everyone else. When reading other passages if I observe and understand that the portion I read urges Christ followers to be generous, then I look at how I am being generous or how I can become generous. If the passage teaches to trust Jesus with my tomorrows then I will move toward trusting and not worrying.
If this was about reading and understanding for reading and understanding’s sake then I would say, Go to the beach or for a bike ride or whatever you do for fun. But this is about communicating with God. You will pick up a rhythm amazingly quick when you start applying these three steps. Consider who you can read with, the word of God was intended to be read in community for maximum benefit. It will not take long before you experience more wisdom and comfortability when discussions of the Bible come up.
Let me know how it goes.
