The Importance of Signs

Last week Andrew Kown made several great points in his post on Signs.  Too often we focus on the signs and don't experience what the signs are pointing to. Many Christians have all of their theological and doctrinal I's dotted and T's crossed, but they don't "know" God intimately. As a PhD student in seminary I am especially susceptible to this danger. Ironically, the last three years I have spent in seminary have been the most difficult for me devotionally.  With all of the reading assignments, book reviews, papers, etc., often times my devotional life gets left in the dust.  I am so busy learning "about" God that I neglect my relationship with God.  It would be like reading every book that has ever been written on Yosemite National Park, but never going there to experience it for myself.  I would be an expert on the park without the joy of experiencing it for myself.  That is what many of us do with God and I think that is what Andrew was getting at in his post.

Even though I think Andrew is 100% right in his post I want to give a helpful caution.  What I want to caution Christians against is creating an either/or scenario with signs and the real thing, instead of a both/and.  Signs are extremely important.  The sacrificial system and ceremonial laws of the Old Testament were signs that pointed to the real thing - which is Christ.  Just like the signs in Yosemite that explained what you were looking at and the history behind it, the Bible explains who God is and the history of His people.

The purpose of reading about who God is and how He interacted with His people in history is to grow in your love, trust, adoration, and affection for God, as well as, your fellowship with God.  The sign (the Bible) helps you experience the real thing (God). Without the sign you may distort and dishonor the real thing. It is for this reason that we need both the sign and the real thing. So let us walk that fine line between focusing too much on the sign and not on what the sign points too, and neglecting the sign and interpreting what we see however we want to.

- TDurham