In the movie City Slickers 2 (1994) the premise was that the main character, Mitch (played by Billy Crystal), found an old, battered treasure map that was missing a corner in the hat of his deceased friend, Curly. So, Mitch and his friends decide to go looking for this treasure which leads them on a comical adventure. Along the way, they meet up with Curly’s twin brother, Duke, who joins them for the journey. Spoiler alert: After following the map to its end, they don’t discover a treasure but that the end of the map had been made into a tourist attraction. Feeling disheartened, they return home, at which point Duke reveals that when their mother gave him and Curly the map, she tore it and gave each of them a piece. Where Curly’s map ended was not the actual end. Duke pulls out the missing corner and lays it in place, completing the map, showing the full picture, and laying down a bar of gold. Duke says “It’s got friends.” Then starts chanting “Come and get me. Come and get me.”
The Bible can very easily be compared to a map showing us how to attain certain treasures such as a relationship with Christ, a home in Heaven, God’s favor, God’s peace, and so much more. But in order to find this treasure, we have to look at the whole map. We have to keep verses in context and read the parts that are challenging to us, not just the ones that make us feel good. We can’t pick and choose what parts of Scripture are important to us and discard the rest. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
We all may have our ‘go-to’ verses for particular situations or verses that we gravitate toward because they hold special meaning to us. And that’s great! Knowing and forming a relationship with Scripture is a blessing. But let’s be careful to not only read part of the map. Your well-known verses may contain little nuggets of wisdom and encouragement. But they’ve got friends. And they’re saying “Come and get me. Come and get me.”
Today, may you search for the pieces of the map (Scripture) that have been missing from your study.