Spiritual Disciplines: bible reading and meditation… day 2

So how does this work in real life? Am I to get out my spiritual disciplines book, make a list of the various disciplines and start doing them? Well no... And yes. I am to pursue a love for God through the spiritual disciplines... I am to pray to Him and plead with Him to fill my cold heart with greater love for Him. I am to pray that as I open my bible to read it, that my soul will be fed the living water and bread of life which is Christ who is the word become flesh. I am to meditate (think deeply) throughout the day on the holy words of God which I have tasted during my bible time... I am to memorize God's word out of a desire to fill my mind with good things of God (and ammunition for the Holy Spirit to use in the fight against sin). And so on the list goes... but it is not merely a list ... it is a faith filled decision to step into the place where God has promised He will do a good work in our hearts, for His glory, in His perfect time.

So it's not that the list of spiritual "to-do's" is bad, no rather it is good... IF... it is coming from a heart of faith that desperately wants to love God more and as such it comes to God seeking HIS means of pouring that love into us. “For without faith it is impossible to please God,” Hebrews 11:6.

Let’s discuss bible intake and meditation. These go hand in hand. Bible reading is like eating God’s food and meditation is like digesting it. Through meditation the Holy Spirit takes God’s word and uses the “nutrients” to feed your soul and cause spiritual growth. Obviously there are other factors that God uses to cause spiritual growth, such as trials, but those interact with God’s word within us as digested by the Holy Spirit through meditation to produce the growth that God designs for us. Picture a person who exercises to be strong and healthy. If they don’t eat properly, they don’t physically prosper. If they do eat properly, but their body won’t digest the food and use the nutrients to benefit their body, then they still will not prosper. In fact, under those circumstances their body will actually be harmed by the added strain of the exercise. Similarly, we must be eating God’s word daily and then digesting it through meditation upon it, so that we may grow in respect to godliness. We can be sure that when we ingest and digest God’s word by faith motivated by desiring greater love for God, the Holy Spirit will do His part in bringing forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness within us. As we grow in love for God, our whole lives will reflect it and we will be following in the footsteps of Jesus. As such our joy will be made full! These are awesome benefits!

So how do we get started? First things first, this is a lifelong discipline so think of it as such. Some people decide to start reading the bible daily so they get a “read the bible in a year plan” and start off strong. However when they fall behind, they get discouraged and give up due to a hopeless feeling of “I’ll never be able to finish the bible this year because I’m so far behind.” Then they end up reading hardly ever! I would recommend that you seek to read the bible over the course of the year; however, I would not recommend getting so caught up in the one year schedule that when you fall behind, you give up. Rather, keep in mind that you are developing a lifelong daily delight (a sanctified habit) and you are reading God’s word for the purpose of knowing and loving Him better. This way you can be free to joyfully, though purposefully, pursue God by reading through His word at a pace that best fits you. Donald Whitney scandalously encouraged believers (at a spiritual disciplines conference held annually at our church) to meditate more on God’s word even if it meant that they had to read less of it during their bible reading time. This is so true! If we are desiring to really be changed by God’s word then we must meditate upon it, and if in order to fit it all into our hectic lives we must only read one chapter a day (instead of the 3-4 chapters daily required to make it through the bible in a year)… then do it. But keep at it. Don’t give up. Each day go before God and read His word (that’s Him speaking to you telling you what’s important) then listen to Him and think about it deeply (that’s meditation). In Joshua 1:8 it says: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” Also in Psalm 119: 11, 15-16 it says: “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You… I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.” So set aside time each day to read God’s word and then meditate on what you’ve read.

Thursday I will offer up some more nitty-gritty application type of thoughts regarding bible intake and meditation.