admitted it. I don't understand God and the bible. I don't feel God around me and don't have a relationship with him. But I want one. Where can I start when it comes to God and his word?
You'll definitely be getting different sorts of answers to this question, but here's my answer:
A relationship with God, first and foremost, isn't about you. That might sound odd, but hear me out. There is a tendency, especially in the modern day, to speak of "having a relationship with God" and then to speak about how we can go about making that happen, how can we get closer to God, what we can do to improve our walk with God. The emphasis is almost always placed on us taking initiative, and then to go up to where God is.
I believe that's completely backward.
We don't go up, we never go up; God comes down, God
always comes down.
Consistently throughout the Bible the relationship between God and His people is always by God acting, God speaking, God doing,
God coming down to us. No where is this more important and more obvious than in the Incarnation, with Jesus Christ. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father" (John 1:1, 14) God took on flesh, God became man, God came down to us, was born of the Virgin Mary, grew up, lived, taught, and He was arrested, made to suffer, was crucified, buried, dead, and then rose on the third day.
God comes down.
After the resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven, but He promised we would never be alone. He sent the Holy Spirit (God comes down), He instructed His apostles and Church to go and preach the Gospel and to baptize, and we have God's promise that He is at work through His Word (the preaching of the Gospel) and Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper, etc) to accomplish His purposes. Again, God comes down.
He comes down to meet you through the preaching of the Gospel.
He comes down to meet you through His word in the Scriptures.
He comes down to meet you through your baptism.
He comes down to meet you in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper.
So if you want to strengthen the relationship you have with God, then I'd say it's important to learn how it's not about you, but about Him. His love for you, what Christ did for you. It's hearing and believing the good news. We hear and receive that good news wherever He has promised it to be--so we hear the Gospel preached, we hear the Scriptures read, we remember our baptism and what God has promised us there, and we receive the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus in, with, and under the bread and wine of His Supper.
The Lord said, "My sheep hear My voice", and to hear His voice is to hear His word--His Gospel, which is to you and for you, that He gave Himself for you. He came, suffered, died, and rose for you. His gifts which He freely gives you through His preached Word and His Sacraments are yours. This is the voice of the Good Shepherd to you, His Gospel.
It's not about you coming to God. It's about God coming to you. And He comes to you through what He Himself offers you, freely and abundantly. Hear His voice,
"
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30
Wherever the word is preached and the Sacraments administered, there the voice of the Good Shepherd is speaking.
-CryptoLutheran
