We’ve all heard of “flyover states,” right? Those states spanning the middle of the country that are passed over—often without a second thought—as travelers jet from one major-city airport to another.
It’s easy to ignore these states as we’re focused on our destination, right? But having had the chance to spend time in these states and see their stunning beauty, I can say that we lose out when we think they’re good only to fly over.
The idea of flyover states came to mind recently as I was thinking about some Scriptures. Just as there are flyover states, do we sometimes categorize certain verses as “flyover verses”? They’re there, but only to get us to the “destination verses.”
For example, in a current study of Galatians, I was thinking about chapter 1, verse 1: “Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—”
Ok, that’s nice, but don’t we want to get to the “real” part of the chapter? The part where we read about the Gospel?
I mean, let’s be real, in reading Scripture, we want to get to the good verses! Verses like: “No weapon formed against you will prosper…” (Isaiah 54:17) Or verses that tell us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) That’s the good stuff, right?
But the truth is that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
All Scripture.
So, 1 Chronicles 2:40 – “And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum”? Yep, God-breathed and useful!
How about 1 Kings 7:43: “the ten stands with their ten basins”? Also God-breathed, and useful!
Now, I’m not saying our daily devotions should consist of nothing but Chronicles for the next year. (Although we’d be experts at genealogy!)
But maybe we (and if I’m honest, I’m talking to myself here!) should stop simply jetting over the ‘flyover verses’ in search of the main event and instead recognize that God has given us ALL of scripture—to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in righteousness so we can be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
And maybe if we (yep, talking to myself again here) ask God to show us Himself through these verses and take time to consider them, we’ll realize the stunning beauty they really are.
An outstanding post, Gina! Lots of food for thought. I once spent a good while meditating on Galatians 1: 1 in light of my own calling and was awed by the implications. The Word of God is infinitely amazing!
Hey Gina, this was a great read and it brought to mind a podcast I heard a few weeks ago from the Bible Project about the book of Jonah. In laying out the groundwork for the book of Jonah they pull out these details that we might overlook. For instance, the reference to Nineveh in Jonah is not the first reference. We can pull these strings out from other parts of the Bible and contextualize the importance of Nineveh. The essence of what this guy was saying is that the Bible is such a complex web of intermingling stories and situations, but all of the strands you pull point you to Jesus. I was simply overawed by that thought. So there really shouldn’t be ANY flyover verses and if there are we might have not dug deep enough. Pretty amazing to know that given all the levitical laws and the book of Chronicles, etc.
Thanks, Abhi! That sounds like a really good podcast…love the word picture that “all strands you pull point you to Jesus.”!