There’s a memorable image in an episode of Seinfeld when Kramer and Jerry are in an observation deck, overlooking a surgery. As if he’s at the movies, Kramer pulls out a box of junior mints and begins snacking as they watch the operation. Accidentally, Kramer fumbles a mint, and it falls below, landing inside of the man who’s under the knife. The improbable act goes unnoticed by everyone else except Kramer and Jerry.
This comical scene frames up a more serious contrast. It helps me to think about how I am to sit under the Word of God.
Personal Bible study and the corporate attendance of the preaching of the Word of God are privileges for Christians. There’s something exceptional about sitting under the authority of the Word of God.
However, sometimes I find myself slipping into the mindset that I’m just trying to pile up more information. In personal Bible reading, I may move quickly without engaging my heart with my mind. Skimming the section looking for verses or arguments to supplement what I know won’t penetrate the area of what I value and love. When doing a reading plan, I find myself checking out and just trying to move the bookmark ahead. When listening to sermons, I catch myself examining a preacher’s homiletics, oratory skill, or theological points. In both cases, I’m not really engaging my heart.
When doing this, I forget that I’m the one who needs surgery. I need the Word of God to do its work on me. God is the Great Physician who operates on me and my heart infested with indwelling sin. The Word is described as fire and like a hammer that shatters hard rocks like my heart (Jer. 23:29). The Scriptures must be received and valued in the heart, producing sanctification (Ps. 119:11). The Bible is a sharp sword that cuts deep and reveals my hidden motives (Heb. 4:12).
Going back to the Seinfeld image, am I in the observation deck or on the operating table? When I open the Bible to read it or hear it preached, do I see myself as under the knife or eating junior mints?
If I am standing up in the observation deck, I may be coming to the Scriptures as a consumer, or as one looking for entertainment, or even validation. Sure, I may learn something, but there will be no change internally. I am distant. I am a spectator rather than a participant.
If I am on the table or under the knife, then I, admittedly, have a problem. I need attention. The scalpel of the Word is dissecting my heart by the Master Surgeon. When this is happening, then I am more likely to hear and heed the Scriptures.
The daily challenge is to put down the junior mints, walk out of the observation deck, and realize that we need surgery. This is our great need every single day.