One of the greatest moments of this last year for me was discovering that “The Message” paraphrase of the New Testament could be downloaded from iTunes as an audio book for seven bucks. Seven bucks! For the entire New Testament! That’s like twenty hours of audio, for seven measly dollars.

Now, I’ve been somewhat ambivalent about “The Message” when I’ve sat down to read it, but listening to it is a whole other story. It sounds clearer and more natural than any other translation I’ve heard, hands down. And while I never used to be much of an audio book fan, having four children has totally converted me. I listen to large chunks of the Bible while cleaning my house–not very focused, I know, but it beats trying to read for five minutes then getting distracted by my kids. Besides, I figure they may be getting something out of it, too.

ANYWAYS. I was listening to the book of Colossians the other day, and something struck me. Read this:

Colossians 1: 26-29 “This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less.”

To be mature is to be basic. This is a truth I’ve become familiar with in many different areas of my life–that the greatest proof of your expertise on a subject is your ability to express it in clear, simple terms–but I’d never read Colossians that way before. That particular section is translated very differently in other versions of the Bible, but as I looked over the book of Colossians, I see that Eugene Peterson nailed Paul’s intent. Paul is warning the Colossians against being sucked into religious regulations and traditions, against becoming more interested in the “mystery” of Christianity than in Christ himself. Read this:

Colossians 2: 2-4 “I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or ‘the Secret.'”

I know many Christians who are more interested in learning about God than getting to know God, who are more interested in studying philosophy than studying their own hearts. Now, I’m not saying that we should check our brains at the door and stop trying to learn everything we possibly can about God. (As so many churches subtly encourage–“faith” may be the most misused term in the Christian lexicon!) Heaven forbid! But Christianity is about following Christ. WWJD is a tired cultural catch-phrase, but it conveys a timeless truth. If we filter out the distractions and get know Jesus, if we study how he reacted to the world around him, we have a pretty good blueprint for how we should live our lives. He didn’t just tell us how to live, he showed us.

It has occurred to me in this last week how often we use our questions as defense mechanisms, always holding God at arm’s length. We are like the Samaritan woman at the well, (John 4,) turning the conversation to hot theological debates when Jesus got too personal. He didn’t fall for it then, and he’s not going to fall for it now. Jesus doesn’t care about your theology, he cares about you, about what’s happening in your life right now. He doesn’t want to talk about whether you believe Genesis’ account of six-day creation is literal or figurative, he wants to talk about why you still haven’t picked up the phone to call your estranged mother.

Sucks, huh?

But not really. Because what Jesus really wants is to restore you–to restore your relationship with him, to restore your relationships with others, to restore your relationship with yourself. He wants to heal you. Like many cures it may be painful at first, but in the long run, it will save you. The question is, do you trust Jesus enough to put yourself in his hands, to allow him to save you?

Well, do you?