January 19, 2022
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What’s Closer than Close?

C.S. Lewis wrote a short essay on the literary value of the King James Version of the Bible, as many people in his era were discussing the scriptures merely as a charming piece of literature that ought to be preserved as a piece of western historical and formative text: just a “pretty book.”  Lewis challenged this view with the following assessment:

“But in most parts of the Bible, everything is implicitly or explicitly introduced with “Thus saith the Lord.”  It is, if you like to put it that way, not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite, it excludes or repels, the merely aesthetic approach… It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long except to those who go to it for something quite different.”[i]

What, if anything, do you go the Bible for?  That might seem a strange question, but it’s worthy of our reflection.  Am I trying to gather information?   Am I hunting for something to benefit my life?  Am I doing this because I suppose it’s what a good Christian ought to do?  This week I’d like to suggest to you a supremely perfect reason to study the word: Intimacy with God.  If you want to be close to Him; if you’d like to be closer than close to Him, may I recommend regular time in THE WORD. (John 15:7-11)

[1] Lewis.  C.S. Selected Literary Essays: The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version.  1950. pp 144

[i] Lewis.  C.S. Selected Literary Essays: The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version.  1950. pp 144