The Bible is Not Boring or Difficult

To this very day, when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers the minds of those who hear it. [16] But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

2 Corinthians 3:15-16 NIrV

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Luke 24:45 NIrV

The Bible is not as difficult or boring as it is spiritual.

Understanding and being inspired by Scripture requires a “veil” to be removed – We need our minds opened. Anyone who embarks on the journey of reading Scripture without first examining their level of spirituality will make the mistake of the “dutifully religious”, who read but experience no power.

Jesus replied, “You are mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God.

Matthew 22:29 NIrV

Knowing the Scriptures is more than the intellectual ability to quote, teach, or express an opinion about them. Rather, knowing the Scriptures is a spiritual experience where God’s voice penetrates our hearts and opens our minds to see as we have never seen. Here again, the “dutifully religious” fail the mark, because their intellectual ability to teach and apply the law is not enough to see the fulfillment of the law (which in John 5:39-40 means acknowledging Jesus as the son of God.) Their minds were veiled and unopened, so they were unable to see that Jesus was God working to establish a relationship with them. All they could see were rules.

“You study the Scriptures carefully. You study them because you think they will give you eternal life. The Scriptures you study give witness about me. [40] But you refuse to come to me and receive life.

John 5:39-40 NIrV

Reading the Scriptures can become interesting and inspiring if we will make the effort to become spiritual. Spirituality enhances our human wisdom or intellectuality so we can pierce the veil, open our minds, and understand the Scriptures, which are first and foremost spiritually understood and discerned. There are 2 initial steps to becoming spiritual and providing yourself with the capacity to enjoy, understand, be inspired by, and successfully obey the Scriptures.

Remove the worldliness

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. [2] I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, [3] for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT

The Scriptures will be confusing, boring, and overwhelming to those who read with a worldly mindset. What is a worldly mindset? This passage mentions three simple and straightforward qualities of the worldly.

First, they are “still controlled by their sinful nature,” which means they have no conscious or concern for how much they sin. Second, they are jealous, while the third and final quality is the tendency to quarrel. If we want the Bible to come alive in our lives and hearts, then we must admit and remove our worldliness, and in so doing become spiritual.

Focus on God, not people

When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? [5] After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. [6] I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. [7] It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

1 Corinthians 3:4-7 NLT

When we are more in awe of, preoccupied by, and interested in pleasing or getting the attention of people than God, our reading of Scripture will become superficial and fill us with spiritual complacency. Becoming spiritual begins with our recognition that God is far worthier of our attention than any human being. Once we hold God in higher esteem than men, all the human static is removed, and we can focus on Scripture, hearing his voice.

Always remember, when the Bible becomes difficult to read or boring, the first thing to do is check your level of spirituality, because more often than not a change in spirituality will remove the veil and open our minds to receive the inspiration God longs to provide us.