There are two types of people. Those who think carrot cake should have raisins in it and those who (correctly) think it should not. I am obviously in the no raisin camp, but my husband is all about having raisins in his carrot cake.

Now, I am sure most people think “who cares? It’s carrot cake and no one likes it anyway” but in our household, carrot cake is a top tier dessert. It is one of Colby’s favorite desserts, and I like to make it for his birthday or other special occasions. So on his birthday the other day, I asked him if he wanted me to make a cake for him. He said “can you make me a carrot cake with raisins in it?”

Usually when he requests raisins, I just ignore it and follow my non-raisin recipe and he never really notices. I don’t know what happened this year. Maybe motherhood has made me soft, but I gave in. When I was buying ingredients at the store, I tossed a bag of raisins in the cart.

Just purchasing the raisins was no commitment to actually put them in the cake. But when it came down to it, the raisins were put in the batter. When I placed the two cake pans in the oven, I felt a small twinge of regret that I had just ruined the cake, but there was no going back now.

As the delectable smell of carrot cake filled the house, I just reassured myself that I can pick the raisins out of the cake when I am eating it. That strategy proved to be a lot harder in reality. Picking the cake apart to pull out each individual raisin was going to keep me from enjoying the whole cake.

It is the same with the Bible. When we try to pick or pull out pieces of scripture out of the context it was intended for, it makes it harder to enjoy the full story of the Gospel. Every word in the Bible is there for a reason. Each word has meaning. So, there are no parts of scripture that we can ignore. Old testament or new, the Bible is God’s word to His people.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV).

God’s word brings life. And His word is just as powerful as it was back when it was written. I don’t want to diminish that power by taking a piece of scripture out of context or just thinking a verse has no meaning in the present time.

Sure there are confusing pieces of scripture, and some stuff that’s just hard to swallow, but they can’t be ignored. It is in the mystery, in the searching where we find the peace of God that goes beyond understanding. The parts of scripture that do not make sense to you and me are begging us to dig deeper. To keep reading so we can interpret the meaning with the help of the Holy Spirit.

After finishing my slice of carrot cake, raisins and all, I realized they did not take away from the taste of the cake. Even though I don’t really enjoy the texture of raisins, the carrot cake was just a delicious as always. And even though, there are stories in scripture that are hard to read and we can’t really understand why they are there, they do not take away from the meaning of the Gospel.

Every chapter, every verse, every word in the Bible all lead to same conclusion: God loves us so much that He sent his Son to save us from sin (John 3:16). From Genesis to Revelation, that story is being told. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to read any verse and see that truth. In our own lives, we are able to see that truth.

The Bible is our friend. It is our best weapon for battle to fight the enemy in our everyday lives. We can not just set it aside because there are things that don’t make sense. We have to read every word, take every bite of scripture without spitting any parts out. God gave us the whole Bible on purpose.