“At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.”
When we read the Bible it is very easy to get lost. We can get lost in the details. Lost in our bias. We can get lost in things we have previously learned or expectations we have. It is easy to get lost. As we start our efforts to read through the Bible in a year as a church may I make an invitation to you as a fellow traveler. What if we made great effort to anchor ourselves in reading the scriptures with fresh eyes, with wonder and holy imagination, considering the possibility that we just might be able to encounter and enjoy the living God through his Word in a new and vibrant way!
In Genesis 4:26 there is this line that has sparked in me some wonder and Holy imagination, “At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name" (Gen 4:26). Some translations interpret it “seek the Lord” or “call upon the name of the Lord”. Regardless of how your text reads consider this.
The descendants of Adam didn’t have a bible to read. All they had was the stories their parents and grandparents had told them, the general revelation of life in a world that was breaking apart, and a God that was committed to pursue them and be known by them. And yet, they knew who God was and sought to worship him. They new him by Name. Personally. Intimately. Experientially. There was no religious law, just a desire for relationship and worship.
And here is the point. The entire story of the Bible from beginning to end is much less about what we should do and far more about who God is and what he is like. This does not mean that our action is not important. It is! But what we do, or how we act, flows out of who we are. And who we are is only rightly defined when we encounter who God is and what he is like, because we are created in His image.
So here is the invitation. What if we resisted the urge to get God neatly figured out and embraced the idea of the Bible that it is revealing to us, in a living, breathing story, a God who is a mystery that is inviting us to know him intimately and fill us with wonder and Holy imagination. As we read, the goal is not to increase our knowledge about biblical facts, timelines, and events (though this will happen), but to encounter the living God who offers us delight and joy as we enjoy him and get to know who he is. Oh that God would fill us with wonder as his Spirit teaches us about Him through his word.