The Bible is a gift to us. It convicts, instructs, encourages, fills our eyes and minds with wonder and discloses to us the nature and character of the Creator of all things. And, the Bible describes people in all their humanity. Some scholars point to the honest treatment of the Bible characters as one of the proofs of inspiration. Humans typically describe other humans, especially at death, in the most glowing of terms—read some obituaries! However, the Bible contains stories about important people that are less than flattering. Abraham sent Hagar and their son into the wilderness and abandoned them. Moses was denied passage to the Promised Land because of a fit of rage. Samson visited prostitutes. Gideon had multiple wives and a mistress. Kings of Israel sacrificed their children, burned the Bible, tortured prophets and took advantage of their own people. There is a lot of raw humanity in the Bible! The English Pastor/Preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, “The best of men are men at best, and the brightest saints are still sinners.” Of course, that doesn’t mean we have permission to sin! Jesus saves people and has every intention of perfecting them! He started a good work and is working His plan. We should cooperate. But we will struggle as David and others struggled. Let’s study the lives of these Bible characters not using their lives as permission to sin but attempting to find ways of living in harmony with the words and deeds of Jesus…and don’t be too shocked about your fellow humans.