A couple of years ago I read “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. It has to be one of the best pieces of prose ever written. Every sentence is a literary masterpiece. Capote takes a true-life tragedy and turns it into one of the all-time great stories of suspense and justice. Some people, however, cannot enjoy the book due to the scandalous life of the author. On the other hand, I loved the book even if I don’t particularly like Truman Capote.
In my personal time I am reading through the Gospel of John which contains some powerful teachings of Jesus about life (now and eternal), about God and His work, and about the fallacy of religion versus the authenticity of real faith. Mostly, the Gospel of John gives us a clearer understanding of the identity of Jesus.
This morning I read John 5 which describes a miracle of Jesus, the message learned from the miracle, and the criticism Jesus received for performing the miracle on the Sabbath. And Jesus returns the fire of His critics, excoriating them for hypocrisy. In John 5:39, Jesus tells the religious leaders: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.” Yet, three verses later, He says: “You do not have the love of God in your hearts (5:42).
For those of us who are part of the modern religious establishment, that’s powerful. Sometimes we are guilty of “studying the Scriptures because we think they possess eternal life” while we harbor bitterness, judgment, and harsh feelings toward those who are not studying the Scriptures.
Is it possible that we too do not have the love of God in our hearts? Is it possible that we’re so intent on knowledge of God that we’ve missed the heart of God? Is it possible that we’ve learned the Scriptures while missing the One who offers Salvation to sinners? Is it possible that we love the Book so much that we’ve forgotten to love it’s Author? May we love the Book, but may we love the One who inspired it even more!
