Back to the Basics 365Sample

The Bible often uses poetic, allegorical, and symbolic language, which can sometimes be difficult to interpret on the first reading. How do you know when a passage is poetic or when it should be read literally? For example, when Jesus says, "I am the bread of life," is He literally a piece of toast? Or when He says, "I am the way," is He a street or a highway that people can travel on? Of course not! In these instances, Jesus is using a poetic image to describe some of His attributes. Therefore, it would be silly to interpret these verses literally.

However, when the Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal," that is meant to be taken literally, 100%. In other words, use common sense and always consider the context of the passage. I have heard it said: "If the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense; otherwise, it becomes nonsense." I couldn't have expressed that idea better myself!