On a recent trip to Washington DC, I visited the National History Museum. There was a special exhibit of artifacts from the life of Thomas Jefferson. One section contained what has become to be called, “The Jefferson Bible.”
Thomas Jefferson liked some of the writings of the New Testament but not others. He took it upon himself to cut out of two New Testaments he owned the scriptures that he liked.
He then taped them into a separate creation. Hence the title “Jefferson Bible” was coined after his death.
Viewing his “Bible” was interesting but more interesting to me was the two New Testaments. Their pages were missing sections of the text expertly cut out.
I will let God and history judge Thomas Jefferson’s life and the “Jefferson Bible”. What struck me about the two cut out Bibles was that this is how many of us approach the scripture. We like those parts that we agree with and we discard those parts in our minds that we don’t. This is not a healthy approach to the Bible.
The Bible is God’s instruction book for us. It is not a menu at a restaurant to pick and choose from. Humility is the key to unlocking the storehouse of wisdom and peace that is found in its pages.
Be careful when you open His Book. Leave your pride at the door. We can question Him about things but discarding disagreeable or difficult passages is dangerous. The Bible says that Jesus said some hard things which caused many to leave him.
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement ; who can listen to it? John 6.60
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. John 6.66
Sometimes I don’t understand or agree with what the Bible says initially but eventually I have learned that He is always right.