Gnarled roots and jagged rock crisscross the mountain trail. I fix my eyes on the path to keep from stumbling. I hike on like this for the next thirty minutes, until my friend interrupts our conversation to say, “remember to look up once in awhile.”
At their prompting, I lift my eyes from the rocky terrain and fresh wonder overwhelms me. Mountains surround us, clothed in layers of slate-grey rock and velvet forest; peaks caped with glaciers, shrouded in wispy cloud. Below us lies an emerald mountain lake, glistening in spite of the clouded light, dotted with a dozen colorful canoes.
I was hiking one of the most popular destinations in the Rocky Mountains and had spent the past thirty minutes starring at rocks and tree roots!
I forgot to look up and wonder because this wasn’t my first time visiting these mountains. Living only a couple hours away, I visit them often. It took my friend’s comment to remind me that God’s creation is astonishing.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only time I’ve needed a reminder to wonder at something extraordinary. I don’t naturally get excited about the color pink in a sunset or a mushroom perched a rotten stump. I’ve had to learn to intentionally see the beauty around me.
My tendency to miss both little and large wonders carries into my quiet time. I often approach God’s word the same way I did that hike: eyes on the trail, missing the glory of the mountains. I’ve grown so accustomed to reading miracles, I don’t think twice about how shocking it is for a blind man to see, the sea to part, God to become a man.
Have you lost the wonder of God’s Word?
This is why I love talking with new believers who are reading the Bible for the very first time.
I remember catching the excitement of a girl who just finished Genesis and Exodus. She shared how incredible it was that God gave Joseph the interpretation of dreams. She was amazed at how God turned a river into blood, and sent hail, flies, and frogs to Egypt just to set His people free from slavery. She was astonished at the power of God. As she talked, I realized I wasn’t. I often take the miracle-working power of God for granted.
Of course, it shouldn’t surprise us that God, being God, can do these things. Still, shouldn’t reading the Bible always fill us with a fresh sense of wonder and awe at who our God is and what He can do?
I believe it should.
David Mathis, in his book Habits of Grace says, “The kind of application most important to pursue in encountering God’s word is astonishment.”
Have you ever opened your Bible wanting to be astonished?
For those of us who grew up in Sunday School, it’s hard to imagine being astonished by anything in the Bible. However, if we lift our eyes above the well-worn trail and look afresh at the wonder of Christ and the gospel, I believe we can leave our time in God’s Word with awe and wonder every day.
Here are a few practical suggestions to help reawaken the wonder of God’s Word.
1. Look to Jesus
In heaven, around God’s throne, are four living creatures who have six wings and are full of eyes. “And they do not rest day or night saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.’” (Revelation 4:8) These creatures behold the glory of the Lord day and night. Yet they never tire of declaring His majesty.
God is so far beyond what our human minds can comprehend. He is a holy, holy, holy God. It’s as if the creatures in heaven fall down worshiping God and the moment they lift their heads and look afresh at Christ, He reveals a new layer of His glory and majesty they have never seen before and it causes them to cry out again, “holy, holy, holy” and fall down in worship. The layers of Christ’s glory are endless.
If you’re like me and don’t naturally respond in wonder to the Word of God, try looking afresh to Jesus. Ask the Lord to reveal more of His wonder and glory to you as you read the Word. Look for Him in the pages.
2. Look to the Cross
The greatest reason we have to be astonished is the cross. This holy, holy, holy God became a man and took all our sin upon Himself, dying the death we deserved, while we mocked Him.
In the Bible, the word “astonished” is most often used in reference to the people of Israel rejecting God and turning to idols. God tells us to be astonished that people would turn from Him to serve idols made with human hands. So, we should be astonished at the greatness of our own sin and even more in awe at the greatness of Christ’s love and mercy on the cross.
When I find myself struggling to worship God, I look to the cross and find everything needed to drawn my heart into gratitude and humble adoration.
3. Listen to Others
It took a friend saying “remember to look up once in awhile,” for me to notice the majesty of the mountains. God has given us the body of Christ so we can remind each other to look up once in awhile. Surround yourself with people who will remind you of the wonder of Christ and the gospel.
Ask friends to share their testimony with you, listen to worship music, read Christian biographies, join a small group where you can share praise requests regularly. These are practical ways we can remind ourselves of who God is and what He is doing.
The gospel is the most astonishing thing in the universe.
God became a man (reminder: He is the only god who ever became a man). The perfect One died for our sin (reminder: very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, but while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8).Three days later He rose (reminder: dead people don’t rise from the dead). After that, He gave us the Holy Spirit so we could live forever with Him (reminder: we don’t deserve this).
Don’t allow the roots and rocks on the trail to distract you from looking up and beholding the wondrous mystery. Don’t allow the gospel to become so familiar that you can’t hear it without wonder.
Instead, look afresh to your Savior and the cross and ask the Lord to fill you with new amazement as you read His Word.