The Scarlet Thread

Read this quote three times. If this is a new thought to you, I get it. The author, R. T. Kendall, says it so beautifully. I found it in one of his books I am currently reading, God Meant It For Good, and was reminded of not understanding this in the past.

Years ago I only wanted to read the New Testament, you know, because it made more sense than all the kings, pagan nations, and prophets found in the Old Testament. In fact, when I first began serving at LifeWay Beth Moore’s first study, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, was about to be released. I couldn’t understand why our first women’s study would be on the Old Testament tabernacle! UGH! Can you hear my disappointment?

Then I read the manuscript and saw for the first time how Jesus is visible throughout all aspects of the tabernacle Israel used for worship in the desert wandering years.

Today, I love the Word more than ever as I’ve learned about the connection between the Old and New Testaments. I see how every verse in the Bible is absolutely relevant to the Gospel.

Now, instead of seeing it as boring, I know the Old Testament is proof of the truth of Scripture. Without the Old Testament we wouldn’t even need the New. But I didn’t come to this understanding overnight. It took YEARS.  There were steps along the way that drew me into a love for reading all of the Bible and seeing this scarlet thread throughout all of Scripture. 

1. I began reading the entire Bible, multiple times.
2. I began reading chronologically, multiples times.
3. I began leading a discipleship group using a chronological reading plan, multiple times. 
4. I began looking for Jesus in every portion of Scripture, whether through chronological reading or working through a Bible study on a topic or book of the Bible.

I learn something new every time I do this. I love the Word more each year I study it. I love Jesus more because I see more of Who He is. I seek to live more obediently, though I have such a long way to go. As someone said, “the closer I am to Jesus, the more I am aware of my sin.” But, I also see the greatness of the Gospel and grace more than ever. 

If you have never understood how the thread of the gospel is in every single part of the Bible, keep reading and studying as you pray for God to show you and you will never read the Bible the same again. And if you’ve never read entire Bible chronologically, do it! It’s worth the effort you put in!

Banner photo by Merve Sehirli Nasir on Unsplash