Reading the Bible
“Until I get there, apply to reading. 1 Timothy 4. 13a
- “The two most important personal spiritual disciplines are the absorption of god’s Word and prayer.
- And in that order.
- Because it is much more important to listen to God through His Word than to listen to God in prayer.
- “.
The Bible is the word of God, it is the means by which God reveals himself in a special way to us, men and women. The Bible is our source of wisdom (Psalm 37,30-31) [ii], righteousness (Psalm 119,11) [iii], guidance ($119,105) [iv]; eternal life (Jn 5:39) [v].
The word of God is the revelation of your person. The word of God has power. The word of God sustains the universe, creates all things, and teaches us, corrects, rebukes, educates for justice, and also allows us to be perfect and perfectly capable of any good work (2 Timothy 3:16) [vi]. The Bible leads us to life and piety for the knowledge of God, the word of God transforms us, it is alive and effective (Hebrews 4:12).
Being saturated with the Word of God is the most effective way to have transformed lives. There are many ways to feed on the Word, one of which is through simple reading. Reading is the simple appropriation of information. At first, reading does not always imply understanding what the author wanted to convey, however, reading gives us the content to search through the study for the apprehended.
An in-depth reading of the Bible gives us a broad perspective of God’s plan for His creation and shows us types of Jesus Christ in each of the books. The systematic repetition of this reading will engrave in our minds and hearts what God reveals to the person. of God and what he demands of us in response to this revelation. The reading will tell us, like a big map nailed to the wall of your house, the way forward. Frequent scripture reading will give us the wisdom to live piously. until the day we come face to face with the Lord of Lords.
Beyond being a divine methodology, reading the Word will be a pleasure as your relationship with God, the Almighty, deepens.
Biblical reading is the construction of an altar to God in our minds, the altar of the sacrifices of love that we offer him with all our intelligence.
One recommendation, if I may, is to make it as simple as possible so that you don’t have difficulty doing the essentials: reading the Word.
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Jesus said unto them, They are wrong, they do not know the scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22. 29).
A good study of the Bible transforms the heart by attracting the mind and puts God at the center of history. [Vii] Jen Wilkin
Bible study is another good way to become saturated with god’s Word, study is like deep water immersion, we leave the reading surface and into the bowels of text, looking for new layers of knowledge. , we will expand the understanding of what the text shows us. Details will be observed: the author, recipient, geography, story, story type, characters, decoration, each of these elements provides a key to understanding what the author wanted to communicate.
Studying the Word requires exercise, as you practice it, you will develop your own way of communicating with the Lord through this discipline.
I realize that there is often an attitude that resists study because people do not think they are capable, so it is good to say that it is the Holy Ghost who will do the work of giving us understanding. men to write His Word is the same Spirit who reveals to us what the Great Author of the text wants to teach us.
Biblical study methods and tools are invaluable aids and we can surround ourselves with them, but we must rely on the counsel and instructions of the Holy Ghost.
You will be able to experience this conduct of the Spirit and then check in a biblical commentary what the good authors understood from the studied text.
Get into the habit of having a notework for the text you are studying, it will facilitate your meditation, write down your doubts and impressions, and question (in thought) the author of the text, perhaps in this process a verse or two will remain in your mind, talking to you during your study week and this could be the beginning of memorization. Reading and rereading, pondering, and asking questions to the text about the same passage over and over again is easier to record in our minds what we read and study.
My recommendation for this step is that you start with a small amount to begin and complete the study of an entire Book of the Bible. Some good Bible study teachers indicate that the book of James or John’s letters are ideal for early studies.
Be sure to pray to the Spirit of God to accompany and guide you on this journey.
At this point, I want to leave a celebration of joy that we can study the Bible, it is through the saturation of the Word of God that we are sanctified, and I also want to warn that the work of Jesus on the cross is sufficient. For our salvation, our sanctification and abundant life, it is not because of the works of our hands, because of the time and number of times that we study the scriptures or practice any other means of grace, this is a point that we must always remember. One cannot lose sight of the purpose of the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines, which is the pious life.
And finally, you must know that every time you stand before God to have communion, devotion, worship, your desire to be with Him again will potentially increase.
If by reading the word we raise an altar to God, when we study the Word, we offer our rational worship, transforming our minds by the regenerating washing of truth.
God, by his grace, will delight you in your study and make it more frequent and profound in each period of work. Yes, studying the Word of God is a spiritual work.
Cheer up, sheep!
[i] Donald Whitney is professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Quoted https://www. desiringgod. org/interviews/what-spiritual-disciplines-are-most- important, consulted on January 22, 2020. Free translation.
[ii] Psalm 37. 30-31 The mouth of the righteous expresses wisdom, and his language says the right. In his heart he has the law of his God; your footsteps won’t waver.
[iii] Psalm 119. 11 I keep your words in my heart, let it not sin against you.
[iv] Psalm 119,105 Lamp for my feet is your word, and light for my ways.
[v] John 5. 39 You are searching the scriptures because you believe that you have eternal life in them, and they bear witness to me themselves.
[vi] 2Tm 3. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and educating himself in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfect and perfectly qualified for every good work.
[vii] Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word. Loyal editor