I read the Bible every day, systematically making my way through scripture so I can read through the entire Bible in a year. I am a very slow reader, but it usually only takes me thirty minutes or so, the same time it would take to watch the same news coverage you have already seen three times. Sometimes I forget or I get interested and start looking up parallel passages. It can be just like surfing the web, you forget time altogether.

Parts of the Bible read out of context or read without the backdrop of God's nature can lead the reader down one way streets, sometimes frightening dead ends or misunderstandings and wrong conclusions. To read a little here and read a little there can short-circuit the message of the Bible. We need to read it all, always remembering God's nature. The Bible is full of many characters who do many things contrary to God's will, just like you and me. To read the Bible without God's unchanging nature in mind can cause us to think incorrectly about ourselves, each other and God. This can cause un-Christ like applications with painful consequences.

Do you understand what I mean by keeping God's nature as the backdrop? I love wind chimes, some more than others. We got some wind chimes at our local Goodwill store that I find especially beautiful. Whenever I hear them I think of the old movie Its A Wonderful Life. Every time a bell rings an angel gets it wings. Silly maybe, but a gentle thought none the less.

Does the sound of the ocean affect you? What about a waterfall? How about the wind in the trees? When you are home alone and it's raining do you think of hot chocolate, soup, coffee?

All of these are backdrops to what is happening on the stage, but the backdrop often gives meaning to what is happening to us or in us. Come on, you and I know we just feel different when we are at Multnomah Falls, Silver Falls, or the coast. The backdrop of where we are; physically, emotionally and spiritually, can fill our senses and our heart.

So what is the backdrop of the Bible? First, I see the Bible as a love story. It starts in a garden and it ends in a garden. It is just like the parable that Jesus told about the prodigal son. To read Scripture and somehow forget that God loves us, wants what is best for us and died that our relationship with God might be restored, is to miss the point of the Bible. Is it worse to read Scripture and forget the same message applies to those we don't care for?

I don't believe the Bible is supposed to be a point of division or a weapon for condemnation. It can certainly convict us, but isn't the point of conviction to help us change direction? Most of us have a hard time forgetting what others have done to hurt us, but the Bible teaches that God forgives and God forgets. Consequences for our actions should not be confused with forgiveness. You and I tend to focus on the past, but God focuses on the present and the future. Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, not the man, "go and sin no more." The religious leaders focused on what she did, the past. Jesus focused on her present and her future.  

If the hustle and bustle of the season leaves you feeling like you are missing something then consider the backdrop of the Bible. God loves us. That same backdrop applies to Christmas. Isn't that what Christmas is all about?