Why Do I Need to Know the Whole Bible?

There are two parts to the Bible... the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament points to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the New Testament tells of the life and times of Jesus and the growth of the early church. I’m always a little bothered when I hear Christians say they are New Testament Christians, as if the old was just rules and regulation without value. I remember an old fable told of six blind men that never knew what an elephant was. Each was to try to determine what this object was before them. The first person went to the elephant and felt what was in front of him. He said, “It is long, thick, powerful, and has air flowing through it (trunk). The next said that it was large, flat, and leathery (ears). Another said it was tall, round, and solid (body). Another said it was thin, long, and a little twirly (tail). Still another spoke of large stumps, too big to lift (feet). The last one spoke of something long, smooth, and pointed (tusks). They all felt the same animal, but what they learned seemed unlikely to be one creature. Now, I’m sure I am drawing a different conclusion from the original fable but think it can describe God’s word. There are parts that speak of history, parts are poetry, parts are from journals, a song book, prophesies of future events, life and times of Jesus, the growing of the early church, and books that speak of end times and what is yet to come. It speaks of war and of peace, law and gospel, judgement and mercy, condemnation and unconditional love, and so on. It is hard to imagine that one book (the Bible) can contain such varied writings and still be united in its presentation. Even though God makes His word available to us, I sometimes wonder if those blind men would “see” more than those of us that claim to see. To understand the elephant, one needs to know more about it than a trunk, or tusk, or tail. To understand God’s word, we need more than just the gospels that tell of Jesus life... we need to know the fullness of Scripture. On top of knowing what God’s word says, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding. Reading the cliff notes doesn’t work with God’s word... we need to know Him fully and serve Him. Father, Open my mind to know Your truth, open my eyes to see Your will, and open my heart to love unconditionally. Amen