Uh, could you read it again? This time with more...feeling.

"Who do you think you are?"

How do you read that question? Is it full of contempt? or full of sincerity?

For years, I studied acting. I loved it. I loved improv. I loved scripts. I loved drama, comedy, tragedy. I just loved theater.

One thing that strikes me about acting is that you can hand a script to three different people, ask them to read the same exact lines, and get three different reads. Some actors will stress the first part of the sentence. Some the second. One will add an accent. The other will add an attitude. Voice inflection. Timed pauses. Body language. Facial expression.

Every aspect adds a depth. a dimension that was not there before. The WAY that the sentence is read breaths life into it. It gives the black and white words a living personality.

So I ask again. How did you read that question? Do you stress the "you"? Do you read with a sneer? Or a smile?

I ask only because it's been said that both the Devil and the Lord are asking the Church the same question. That question. "Who do you think you are?"

One is an invitation. The other an accusation. It's the exact same sentence. But a very different heart intent.

And THIS is what strikes me about the Word. It's "just" a bunch of words on a page. Left up to US, the Believer, to read. So our voice becomes the representation of Christ's.

But how do I read it?

Or maybe I should ask...how do I picture Christ saying it? Do I imagine him glaring? seething? laughing? waiting to prove me wrong? waiting to embrace me? judge me? befriend me? ...How?!

Because the grid through which I read it is the way my heart interprets it. I mean, have you ever talked with someone that has rejection issues? They've been rejected over and over again. And because of this, they have come to expect it, you know? So regardless of what is said to them, they process it through a grid of rejection. Through a heart that interprets their being unacceptable. Make sense?

So what is MY "grid"? Do I have one? How do I think God wants to address me?

When I pray...and I try to imagine the eyes of the Father...what do I see? When I read the Word...and try to imagine the voice of the Father...what do I hear? An invitation or an accusation?

Lord, as I read Your Word...please break apart all "grids". Allow me to hear Your voice speak Life into the words. Read your "Script" over me...so I may be your Understudy. That I may adequately walk in your shoes. correctly act out your words. intimately mirror your cues.