“The Bible?! You have got to be kidding me, dad! The Bible?”

Did he say the bible?

Considering every jewel he dropped leading up, to this moment, I couldn’t believe the Bible was his answer!

My dad … sure, he had a heart, but it seemed it was hidden under a lot of complexes. People were afraid of him, they tip-toed around him, he had no qualms about calling someone stupid or dumb, he demanded respect, he was harsh, abrasive, and it wasn’t uncommon to hear someone say, “Oh, that’s your dad? He seems mean!” It was hard for me to believe he even read the Bible. To learn, not only did he and does he read the Bible, it was the reason for his brilliance, blew my mind with intimidation. However, as intimidating as the Bible was, I was and still am deathly motivated by my need to be some kind of smart. Finding out and knowing is one of my highest priorities in life.

“… But Dad? I don’t even know where to begin. Where should I start?” Just the thought was scary and overwhelming. For goodness sake, I was in no position to start reading the Bible! I live an alternative lifestyle, I abuse marijuana, I wasn’t working, instead I was hustling, didn’t feel worthy enough to go to church, I was actually so removed, I wasn’t even sure what church I would go to and I wasn’t being bad, but I knew, I wasn’t being good. I still had the idea that before I could come to Christ, I had to get my life right.

He suggested that I start with Proverbs. It took a few weeks as I continued to wrap my head around the idea that every genius thing my dad said was somehow connected to Scripture. As those weeks passed, the knowledge he imparted continued to peak my interest. About a week before I began reading, a distant friend of the family stopped by the apartment and left me with a brand new Bible. I had been telling him that I was about to start reading the Bible for all of the aforementioned reasons. He reached in his bag and pulled out a fresh Bible that an old lady give him on his way to visit. His family had more than enough Bibles and if I would use it, I could have it.

The day I picked it up, the burdens I had been hearing about my entire life, the burdens that they say is lifted when you believe and trust Christ, a few were lifted. I didn’t even know I had burdens. Sure, I was under a lot of stress and pressure. My internal environment wasn’t at its best because I wasn’t living up to my fullest potential in the least bit. I wasn’t happy with my circumstances, but they weren’t terrible either. Eventually, I would learn that my ability to make the best out of things, my positive spirit and optimism was HIM all along, without me even knowing. Oh and best of all, I had grace! I didn’t know that either.

The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense. -Prov. 10:21

There were worldly ideas that I had already developed that I couldn’t articulate. There were things that I saw and didn’t understand. For example, being Black and that relationship with Christ. America and everything it seemed to stand for and it’s relationship with Christ. Different cultures and their relationship with Christ. Society and it’s structure posed a lot of questions, as did relationships. Most of all, Love was a 1500-piece jigsaw puzzle.

I knew a couple of things about Jesus and God. My aunt and grandmother used to take me to church as a child. I was in Sunday school. I went to Catholic school for 7th and 8th grades. I wasn’t completely ignorant but, there was something that wasn’t right. I remembered hearing somebody say that Freud, the very Sigmund Freud had his doubts too and decided that whether or not he believed, he would live as though there was a God, just in case He really was real, he’d save him self from hell. I adopted that idea to protect myself while I figured out what Christ was all about, for myself. I was extremely confused about the Christian umbrella. If everyone reads from the same Kings James Bible, then why are there so many different Christian denominations. Honestly, the number of denominations isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that each one believes they have the answer or the way to salvation over the other denominations. Each denomination believes they have the inside scoop as to what gets you to heaven because they seek to convert you. Every member of one Christian denomination sentences to a member of another Christian denomination always seem to begin persuasively with, “Well, we believe ….” That still bothers me and it’s always been my biggest issue. It wasn’t until I began to read for myself that I began to appreciate things in a different kind of way.

The great book of Proverbs changed my life. Then Proverbs was complimented by Ecclesiastes and I was a little bit more powerful. Genesis came through giving me a whole new lease on life and what it was all about. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, made me WWJD, from the bottom of my heart and Acts of the Apostles and the introduction of Paul confirmed a whole lot of things for me. Galatians opened my eyes, Corinthians and Ephesians made me feel safe. Esther gave a lot …. The list goes on. Each book of Scripture answered all kinds of questions, gave me insight, pushed me to use my emotions to their fullest potential, among other valuable tools to live the good life.

What are your experiences reading the Bible? What is your favorite Book? Do you have a particular passage that you love?