I was driving down the interstate yesterday when I passed a billboard that read “God said to read the Bible”.  Two thoughts crossed my mind almost simultaneously, one was that it has been quite awhile since I have read the Bible and the other was that having read the Bible, cover to cover, at least three times in my life, but I do not recall EVER reading the line “God said to read the Bible”.  Suddenly I was offended.

I was now about a mile past the billboard and starting to get really angry.  My next question was this, did whoever pay to have this message put up really think that we are all that stupid?  Why would anyone say that?  There are so many beautiful things written in the Bible, so many things that God did say through a man/woman or spirit why dummy it down? 

Perhaps since I am an Aquarius, perhaps because I am a first born child or maybe even because I am a First Nation Woman I have to say that I really get offended when “people” think that I am a sheep, stupid to the point of needing to be lead by the nose, or that I am not capable of questioning what is being said to me.  I tell others all the time, do not take anything I say as gospel, take everything I tell to/through prayer and find out for yourself if I am telling you the truth.

An hour later I was still thinking about that billboard.  Suddenly I realized that the sponsor of that particular sign can be put in the group of “people” that I consider to be charlatans, cheaters of the innocent.  “Here, take this magic pill, you will be skinny in two weeks”…really?  If it was so magic why did I have to buy three bottles, shouldn’t one pill do just fine?  Spiritual charlatans are no different, at least not in my mind.  They say things designed to prey on the weak or make the person who is doing his or her best to be that spiritual person they think they should be feel really guilty, whereby knocking them back a few rungs on the ladder of life.

Maybe God did tell someone to read the Bible, I don’t know for sure.  I do know that He did not say it to me.