My worst class in college was macroeconomics. Never in my life have I had a teacher that was so difficult. I remember my brother and I studying for 20 hours before each test and still barely passing. This class started with 50 people and only 10 passed the class. Why was this class so difficult? Yes, the tests were hard but the biggest obstacle was boredom.
My best class in college was microeconomics. In this class I learned more than 3 classes combined, and it was one of my highest grades. The material was actually more difficult than macro but because the teacher was the most interesting Professor I have ever taken it made the class exciting and easy to learn.
Sometimes, the Bible seems like the most difficult thing in the world to read. As middle school students we have so many fun things we can do. Whether we are hanging out with neighborhood friends, playing Basketball, dancing, going on My Space, playing video games, or texting our friends, there is always something exciting we can be doing. All these things make the Bible seem old and boring sometimes. Because of this many of us struggle with reading God’s Word. We know we should read the Bible. We try to wake up and read it but are “killed” by boredom.
How can we break out of this? How can we make the Bible become something interesting? Proverbs 2:3-6 says, “…If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” As I read this I realized that God’s Word is like a treasure chest. Inside of the chest are incredible blessings and treasures. We are all treasure hunters searching for real treasures that God wants us to have. We simply have to search for this treasure.
If you found a map that led to a treasure chest full of rubies and gold in the Bahamas, your initial response would be, “This is fake!” Chances are high that you would throw the map away. But what if you knew that the treasure was real and there was millions of dollars worth of gold in this box? You would be immediately studying the map and booking flights to the Bahamas. Getting to the treasure chest would be first priority.
The Bible is a real treasure chest full of everything you could dream of. The treasures inside are real! Inside of this Treasure Chest you will find your dreams, amazing friends, happiness, joy, hope, victory, who you are, health, wisdom, strength, weapons to fight temptation, peace, why you are here… Once we realize that the Bible is a treasure chest filled with the greatest treasures we could dream of it will no longer be boring to us. It will be first priority to us no matter how tired or busy we are.
You must know that the treasure is real and what it is. You will never search for a treasure chest you believe is full of sand. Search the Bible like a hidden treasure. Find out what God is speaking to you. Ask yourself what king David did right when you read David and Goliath, what Samson did wrong when he lost his strength, Why Esther was an amazing queen as you read about her, and then apply these characters’ stories to your story (life). When you do this you will find a treasure God has for you!
Imagine what would happen to this middle school group if we began to search for this treasure, what would happen to our friends at school, our teammates and classmates. The world would begin to see an interesting Christianity.
Ryan Austin
Element Youth Leader
