Pay Close Attention

Then He carefully unveiled to them the revelation of Himself throughout the Scripture. He started from the beginning and explained the writings of Moses and all the prophets, showing how they wrote of Him and revealed the truth about Himself.  Luke 24:27 TPT

Consider this verse as well as some others where Jesus is teaches us through the Bible of His coming 

John 8:56 TPT And not only that, Abraham, your ancestor, was overjoyed when he received the revelation of My coming to earth. Yes, he foresaw Me coming and was filled with delight!

John 5:46 TPT If you really believed what Moses has written, then you would embrace me, for Moses wrote about me! 

Luke 24:44-45 TPT  Then He said to them, Don’t you remember the words that I spoke to you when I was still with you? I told you that everything written about Me would be fulfilled, including all the prophecies from the law of Moses through the Psalms and the writings of the prophets—that they would all find their fulfillment. He supernaturally unlocked their understanding to receive the revelation of the Scriptures.  

Did you see that? Jesus showed His disciples—and in turn us—how the entirety of the Bible points to Him and speaks of Him. He showed them and shows us the signposts of His gospel in the Bible.  He points out all the moments of foreshadowing and the many times He appeared to His people before coming and performed miracles, Jesus opened the hearts and minds of His disciples so they could truly understand His Word and in turn understand who He was, His work, and their purpose; and He did it through the consumption and revelation of all of Scripture. 

Psalms 119:12-16 TPT My wonderful God, You are to be praised above all; teach me the power of Your decrees! I speak continually of Your laws as I recite out loud Your counsel to me. I find more joy in following what You tell me to do than in chasing after all the wealth of the world. I set my heart on Your precepts and pay close attention to all Your ways. My delight is found in all Your laws, and I won’t forget to walk in Your words.

Now, here’s the coolest part: At that time, only the Old Testament spoke of Him, pointed to Him, and foreshadowed Him. Now, we have the Gospels, we have Acts, and we have the letters of the apostles. Today, we can see how all of the Old Testament points to the work of Christ, and we can see how the rest of the New Testament points back to the work of Christ, all of which is outlined in the very center in the Gospels. 

So by reading the entirety of the Bible, then parts of it, then front to back again,  we can see how ALL OF HISTORY, HUMANITY, AND THE WORLD point to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and King!

When we consume the fullness of God’s Word, allowing His entire love letter to pass through our hearts, minds, and eyes, then we’ll experience a new level of appreciation, gratitude, devotion, and a deeper, richer love for Him. 

Check this out: It only takes the average person around 70 hours to read through the entirety of the Bible. That works out to about 15 minutes per day. Think about that; by dedicating only a quarter of an hour per day, you can read through the entire Bible in less than a year!

Sure, during that time you can apparently save 15 percent or more on car insurance, you can scroll mindlessly through social media, you can watch a few YouTube videos on random things, or you can watch part of a TV show that may be entertaining but ultimately does nothing to enrich life. 

But before you choose to do any of those things, I pray you’ll instead choose to immerse yourself in God’s fully revealed work so you can understand His character and nature on a deeper level!