My Neon Bible and the Day the Lights Finally Came On

A highlighted Bible

A true story from Pastor Dick

The Loudest Bible in Three Counties

I owned a Bible that looked like a unicorn had exploded on the pages.

Pink. Yellow. Green. Orange. Notes crammed in every margin like graffiti on a subway car.

I was proud of that rainbow mess. Proof I was "in the Word."

Yet every morning I closed it feeling the same: Stuck. Same fears. Same chains. Same tired heart.

The Tuesday Morning Meltdown

One Tuesday I slammed it shut and actually yelled at an empty room, "What is wrong with me?"

The pages glowed neon.

My soul sat in the dark.

Then I remembered something A.W. Tozer wrote: "To have Scripture and not know Jesus is to have no Scripture at all."

Ouch.

Thursday, the Lights Flicked On

Ordinary Thursday. Same chair. Same tea.

Colossians 1:27 slipped past every defense like it had never been read before:

"Christ in you, the hope of glory."

I stopped breathing for a second.

Out loud I said, "Wait… You're already in here?"

Click.

Like the eye doctor snapping the right lens in place and the whole world suddenly sharpens.

The Same Pages Started Highlighting Me

Mercy stopped being a doctrine. It became a heartbeat in my chest.

Grace stopped being a word. It became arms around my shoulders.

Forgiveness stopped being a concept. It became eyes looking back at me that already knew every secret and still smiled.

The Bible quit being a book I was trying to wring life out of.

It became a window I was looking through—straight into the face of the One who never left the room.

The Holy Spirit Didn't Add New Colors

He just turned the lights on.

Now when I open it, I'm not hunting for transformation. I'm visiting with the Transformer who moved in the day I first believed.

So If Your Bible Looks Like a Rainbow Crime Scene and You Still Feel Half-Blind…

Stop trying to make the words work harder.

Let the Word who became flesh make your heart come alive.

Jesus isn't hiding between the lines. He's breathing between your lungs.

Open the book. Look up. He's already looking at you.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for moving out of the pages and into me.

Take Your highlighter to my heart today.

Turn the lights on bright, so every verse I read becomes a conversation and every promise becomes a Person I already know.

I love You. I see You.

Keep my eyes wide open.

Amen

Blog