3 Reasons to Be Exhilarated—Not Intimidated—by the Bible

As intimidating as the Bible can sometimes feel, the number of ways it exhilarates our souls far exceeds any of its intimidation factors. Here are three ways this is true.

For more resources for studying the Bible, visit JeanWilund.com 

If you're looking for a Bible study for your group or a simple, reader-friendly book on how to understand the Bible better, click the links below: 

Discovering God's Word: A 6-Week Introduction to the Transformational Bible Study Method with the GOSPEL of MARK

Embracing Joy: An 8-Week Transformational Bible Study of Habakkuk

Ease into the Bible: How to Wade into the Water of God's Word with Confidence 

Transcript

Does the Bible feel more intimidating than exhilarating to you at times? In today’s episode, I’ll share three reasons to be exhilarated rather than intimidated by the Bible.

I’m Jean Wilund. But It’s All About Him! 

Welcome to A fun place to get serious about Bible study. 

If you’re like me, you’ve said at least once in your life, “This is the year! Finally, I am going to fall in love with the Bible—no matter how much it has intimidated me in the past. People do it all the time. This is my year! I will be one of those people who the Bible exhilarates rather than intimidates.”

The good news is that, as intimidating as the Bible can sometimes feel, the number of ways it exhilarates our souls far exceeds any of its intimidation factors. 

Today, I’m going to share three ways—three points—that reveal this truth:

#1: The Bible can be intimidating because it’s huge. But it is even more exhilarating than intimidating because the Bible is the very words of our great and loving God.

The Bible consists of sixty-six separate books containing 1,189 chapters, so there’s no use pretending it isn’t massive. 

But this fact should actually exhilarate us. Why? 

Because the Bible doesn’t merely contain God’s words; the Bible is the very words of God—our eternal God who loves us.

The Holy Spirit inspired every word written. Paul affirmed this truth when he wrote, “This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.” (That’s from 1 Thessalonians 2:13.)

When we understand that the Bible isn’t a collection of human thoughts, but God’s words recorded for us, we realize it is the most unique and glorious book ever written. 

Doesn’t this exhilarating truth make you wish the Bible were even thicker? 

I certainly want to hear more from the Lord, not less.  

The disciple John imagined how thick his Gospel would be if he’d recorded all that Jesus said and did in His earthly ministry. 

He wrote in John 21:25, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.” 

Okay, so now, let’s imagine if we can, how thick the Bible would be if it recorded everything God has done or said since He created the world. I don’t think the whole universe could contain that books that would be written.

Fortunately, through the Bible, we have everything we need. God has communicated everything we need to know until Christ returns. Maybe not everything we want to know, but certainly everything we need to know. 

That’s exhilarating!

Point #2—The Bible can feel intimidating with all its talk of death, judgment, and hell. But the Bible is even more exhilarating than intimidating because the Bible gives us the words of eternal life and freedom from death, judgment, and hell.

All of the Bible’s talk of judgement, death, and hell reminds me of the Mt. Olomana Trail in Hawaii. This trail leads up to breathtaking peaks and because of those glorious peaks, it also draws many hikers. But this trail has claimed many lives. 

Because the trail is so dangerous, officials installed a sign at the trailhead listing the number of fatal falls and when each occurred. 

While seeing a sign like that would feel discouraging—even unsettling—proclaiming the truth of how dangerous this trail is has saved lives. 

Hawaii doesn’t want anyone to be uninformed. The hikers need to know the truth about this trail.

The most important truths any of us need to know is that we were all born in sin, and there is only one path to salvation and eternal life. 

God wants us to know this path—this one and only trail—so He gave us the Bible. And the Bible records the one way to salvation—the one true and sure path to salvation. 

Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We need to know this truth, and because of the Bible, we do. 

So, yes, there’s lots of talk about death, judgment, and hell in the Bible. But it’s because God has given us so many vivid word pictures of the consequences of sin and His coming judgment, that we are not left to live oblivious to this vital Truth. 

Instead, through the Bible, God reveals over and over the life-giving truth of the gospel.

Everyone who reads the Bible with a heart eager to know the Truth will discover that God’s Word is far from depressing. It’s the exhilarating message of God’s extraordinary love, grace, and mercy, and of our freedom from sin and death through Christ. And the abiding peace and joy we have in Him. 

That’s exhilarating!

Point #3: The Bible can be intimidating because it can be hard to understand. But it’s even more exhilarating than intimidating because God wants us to understand the Bible, and He provided the help we need by His Spirit and through His people.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “We do not want you to be uninformed.”

When Paul wrote these words, he was echoing the heart of God. The Lord doesn’t want us to be uninformed—or misinformed—about the Truth. This is why He gave us His Word, His Spirit, and His Church. 

Ironically, some of Paul’s letters were difficult to understand. So, if you’ve studied the Bible much, you know there are many passages that seem confusing. Yet God has provided all the power and resources we need through His Spirit and His people to understand His Word.

At salvation, God gives us His indwelling Spirit, who opens our hearts and minds to understanding the Scriptures—and to being transformed by them by His power. 

In John 14:26, Jesus said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”

Also at salvation, God makes us members of His family—the Church. One of the reasons He established the church is to help train and equip us to understand His Word. 

Understanding the Bible does take effort, but Paul encouraged us not to be intimidated because, as he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.”  

God has called us to understand His Word, and He will do it. He has given us His Spirit and His people—faithful churches, pastors, and teachers—to help. 

That’s exhilarating!

You know, we never know what each day or year will bring, but this we can be sure of—that when we faithfully read and study God’s perfect Word to know Him, His perfect Word does its perfect work in us. 

His Word shapes our hearts and minds and makes us more and more like Christ by the power of His Spirit at work in us through His Word.

This is our year, my friend. This year, let’s keep our eyes fixed on Christ and on seeing Him in His Word every day. 

Let’s refuse to let any intimidation with the Bible—or the many challenges in our lives—keep us from opening God’s Word. 

It’s time for us to become one of those in Psalm 119:103 who say: “How sweet your word is to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth.”

Oh, this is our year! Let’s taste and see the greatness of our God in His glorious Word—and be exhilarated. 

Thank you for joining me today. If you like what you heard, I hope you’ll share it with others and join me in reading and loving His Word every day. I’m Jean Wilund. But It’s All About Him!