Take your Scripture sunny side up

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts through like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. — Psalm 19:4b-5

Imagine a diner that does exist. It exists in a place you may never have imagined a diner to be.

This diner does not have a physical location—by that I mean it does not have an address your vehicle’s navigation system can lead you to with its gentle, automated “voice” and half a dozen lines of directions.

This diner is in your soul. You find it—you actually enter it—every time you sit with Scripture.

If you sit with the Word of God habitually, you know that God takes you to a place far from where you are sitting. God takes you to another place when His Word is revealed to you, even though you can’t explain how this happens exactly.

Today, I want you to imagine that place is a diner. It’s early morning. (Mid-morning if you’re not an early riser!) There are huge windows to the East, flooding the place with the sunlight David describes in Psalm 19.

The ambiance is so familiar to you. It’s wonderfully warm and incredibly inviting. Love lives here. You can feel its goodness when you set your fingers on the table or look around at the familiar décor. This place nourishes you, and not just from comfort food on a plate.

Your waitress cares for you before she speaks. As she approaches, she has that way, that look. You’ll know you’ll be all right with her doting over you.

Order eggs sunny side up, even if this isn’t your preference. When your breakfast arrives, let those perfect golden circles remind you of the sun that continues to warm not only the space around you but also, and more importantly, your soul.

In Psalm 19, David metaphorically speaks of the sun, which may be the color of your eggs. He also talks of a radiant bridegroom in one breath and a great athlete in the next. Why? Because David knows what we know: Scripture takes our minds to the places they need to go often by giving us the imagery we need to hear and hold.

Let Scripture continue to take you where you need to go. Enjoy the Word because it will do what it has done, which is guide you to what you need to think, where you need to be, and how you need to be.

I don’t know what imagery will come to you when you read God’s word—maybe it will be a mountaintop, a sailboat, a pasture, a beach, Jerusalem’s city walls, an Upper Room, or that diner you find without leaving your house—but enjoy your sacred time there. Take those feelings (or that sensation) into the world with you—and share.

PRAYER: Father, as it was with David, Your Word opens my mind and my soul. Lead me with metaphors, images, sensations and thoughts that bring me ever closer to You. In the power (and with the whim) of the Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.