Puzzles and Crosswords

I love to work on logic puzzles because it challenges me to think and push myself. In particular, I like the ones where a quote is given, but the letters are not what they seem. Let me explain. Letters have been given different values. For example, every “a” in the sentence might actually be written as a “v”, and every “s” might be written as an “o”. So, if I can determine that the “v” stands for an “a”, then I can change every “v” in the quote to “a”. It can be a challenge to figure out what a few of the letters are, but the more letters that are found, the easier the puzzle gets. I can look at the puzzle for minutes, hours, or even days, but once I find several letters, the quote becomes clear very quickly. It is almost impossible to look at that quote and just read it. I find the easier letters to identify and use them to help me determine the rest. This logic is also good to use when reading God’s word. Sometimes we get to a confusing passage and struggle to figure it out or just give up. What choice do we have? Just as when an appliance doesn’t work, the first question the repairman will ask is, “Is it plugged in?” Likewise, with the Bible, I must ask, “Did you pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance?” After that has been done, the best way to approach some of the problematic passages is find other similar passages. We can often use cross references, other Bible verses that relate to the passage. See if your computer can give some similar passages. Find the ones you know for sure and use them to tackle some of the more difficult passages. God never lies or contradicts Himself, so if you understand a simpler passage, it will give you a better foundation to build on. I hope this is all making sense. An example might be, if you are struggling as to why Jesus had to die on the cross, look up why they had to offer up sacrifices before Jesus went to the cross. We would find that there is not forgiveness without the shedding of blood. The life of an animal is in the blood. The blood of the sacrifices were given in place of my sin. It had to be offered over and over again because the sacrifices were not perfect and they were not human. All these little passages help us to understand that the only sacrifice that could save us would be a perfect willing human sacrifice. This cross referencing can help in many passages. Father, help us to understand Your word. By the power of the Holy Spirit, reveal what we need to know to grow in faith. Amen