08/15/2019
As good Christians we know the strength that is gained from reading the Bible each day, but are we truly getting the fullest blessing from our effort? Are we in the habit of rising from bed, praying, reading the Word, and then going about our day thinking we have done what we should? Well, this is like placing an arrow on the bow string, drawing it back, but never letting go. We should take our scripture reading, and meditate on it all the day long... praying intermittently for more understanding. By dwelling on the Word we are letting the arrow go, and allowing it to change who we are inside.
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.”
Genesis 24:63 ESV
In our days as students, we are accustomed to learning by reading, and receiving the classroom instruction of our teachers, but this is only the beginning of the process. In order to really capture the material, and make it our own, we must study it, and go over it several times. Then, once we have completed our study, we sweat over it with even greater effort, and prepare ourselves to be tested. Our study of God’s Word is very similar.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
Understanding comes in two forms; we can either understand the very absolute truth of something, or we can understand what we THINK is the truth in something. The latter is called misunderstanding and has been the undoing of many students... and Bible readers as well. The greatest problem with not allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us to the truth in the Word is that we THINK we understand, and don’t question further.
“always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.”
2 Timothy 3:7-8 ESV
You might THINK you understand the truth, and even write it down as if carving it in stone, but are you prepared to be told by Jesus that you have been wrong all along?
“But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
Matthew 22:29 ESV
Scripture is alive, and our understanding of it increases as we grow in faith. Study, needs to be followed by meditation, and then by repetition. Every truth being given us as we reach the proper level of maturity...
“I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,”
1 Corinthians 3:2 ESV
https://www.bible.com/59/1co.3.2.esv
So we not only read scripture each day, but we meditate on it all the day long. We ask in prayer for the Holy Spirit to reveal its truth to us, and we make that truth a building block on which we continuously construct our faith. God’s truth, as revealed in scripture, comes first and foremost from the realization that the truth is indeed God’s, and not our’s... not a product of our own understanding.
“knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.”
2 Peter 1:20 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Word, and thank you for your Holy Spirit that leads us to understanding the truth in it. Thank you Father for Jesus Christ who is not only our Savior, and Redeemer, but our teacher, who leads us in understanding you, and prepared the way for the Holy Sprit to come. Help us to not only hear, and read, your Word, but to meditate on it all our days so that we gain fresh understanding as we grow in our maturity of faith. Help us to apply our knowledge of your Word as we are tested by life, and I pray that we be found acceptable in our understanding of your truth. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose Word and Truth lead us into relationship with you. Praised be your name for feeding us a diet of understanding as we grow, and great are you who is the embodiment of all truth.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
Rich Forbes