Beyond the Obvious

There is a game that I play on my cell phone when I have an idle moment, like when I'm waiting in a doctor's office or when a meeting is late in beginning.  This game gives me just six letters to use to make as many as twelve words in a crossword-style grid, but with no clues.  At first, I see the obvious combinations and connect the letters to make the words that stand out to me.  Then I try adding suffixes to the words I've made if the correct letters are there to make that attempt. My next strategy is to think of words that rhyme with those I've already formed.  Finally, I actually look at the grid structure and see what hints are there because of the position of the letters in the words that remain.

Many times I will look at the few letters that are presented to me and think, "There is absolutely no way that I can make that many words from this meager number of letters!" It looks impossible and I can not find any meaning in the jumble of letters that are given to me.  Eventually though, with time and reflection, I fill in the entire grid.

I think the Bible is a lot like a word puzzle.  Of course, the worth of the Word of God is infinitely more valuable than a time-wasting game, but there are some parallels between the two. At first reading of a passage of scripture, we can get the surface meaning.  We quickly latch on to what is familiar and what we have heard preached and taught before, but if we move on and dismiss this as just that "same old passage" that we've heard a thousand times, we won't see the entire "grid" or structure that God is trying to build in our lives.

True Bible study is more than just reading.  Just like the puzzle, we must look at scripture beyond the immediate and instant understanding and find connections and associations between what we are reading and what God has said in the entirety of His Word.  We can find application to the current situations in our lives.  If we are willing to dig into the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, we will find treasures that will bring beauty to our lives and the lives of others.  Challenge yourself to complete the puzzles in your life with the letters you have been given.