May 09 2009
What Do You Think About?
Statistics reveal only about 16% of American Christians read their Bible daily. Are you one of that 16%? If so, great. This is essential. However, I have heard it said the average person forgets nearly 100% of the words they read and hear. That is a startling thought. On the other hand, if you are an average person, a little self-examination reveals this is true, to some degree at least, for you.
This explains why Scripture puts such emphasis on doing ‘more’ than just reading the word. What about you? Do you go deeper? Do you study? Do you meditate upon God’s word?
You have heard it said, reading the Bible is like eating. If you do not eat, your body will die. If you do not read God’s word, your soul will die. This is true, but we would do well to take our analogy a bit further. Consider with me:
If you only read the Bible and never take the time to study and meditate on it, you are doing little more than mouthing your food. In other words, reading the Bible is like putting food in your mouth. You taste it. If, however, you do not study and meditate upon the word, you are, essentially, spitting out your food. While this method (reading, mouthing your food) may keep you alive a bit longer than no food at all, it will leave you anemic and undernourished at best.
Scripture commands us to study God’s word. To meditate upon His precepts, His statutes, His works. Study and meditation can be likened to chewing and digesting your food. While the ‘pleasure’ we derive from eating comes from our food’s taste, were it not for the grinding action of our teeth and the digestive mechanisms within our belly, we would benefit little.
So it is with Bible reading and study and meditation. We must go beyond just reading the words - a practice which, for most, has the words merely passing through our minds. The Bible does not say, “Read to shew thyself approved. . .” It says, “Study to shew thyself approved. . .”(2 Tim 2:15)
Have you ever been responsible for helping someone else learn? If so, you realize you cannot teach what you do not know, and know quite well. Yet, one of the first commands to parents was, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut 6:6-9)
You are not a parent? This does not let you off the hook. In fact, no one is exempt. Look how all encompassing are the directives in this passage. These words (God’s law) are to be:
‘in your heart.’ They are to be part of your conversation - all the time (walking, sitting around, lying down, getting up). They are to be like a physical ‘part’ of your body. You are to be reminded of them when you go out and when you come in.
In other words, God’s words should be on our minds most of the time. Furthermore, there is no denying, what we think about - a lot - becomes a part of us.
Joshua repeated this command in Joshua 1:8 when he said, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. . .”A little later the Psalmist gives us a picture of a godly man. First he tells us what he does not do. Then he lists what he does do. What does he say? “. . .his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” (Ps 1:2) In the Psalmist’s mind, that, in a nutshell, describes a godly man. In fact, eight times in the Psalms the psalmist specifically says he ‘meditates’ on God’s word.
Lest we think this applies only to Old Testament believers, may we remember the first verse above (2 Tim 2:15). In another passage Paul puts it this way, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Tim 4:15)
We must remember, our hearts reveal who and what we really are (Mt 15:19). This is why Solomon, under the influence of the Spirit, said, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov 4:23). Can we really say we are fulfilling this command if we lack diligence, desire, and discipline?
How important is your Spiritual growth? The entire body of Christ depends upon it. Consider Eph 4:11-16. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head––Christ–– from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
This passage, taken in context with the commands above, shows the necessity of personal growth in every believer’s life. It is most startling, then, to realize while the majority of church attendees surveyed recently believed they had grown spiritually over the past year, their lives revealed little change in overall discipline or spiritual formation.
If we desire to lose weight, we exercise, watch what we eat, and measure our progress - usually with a tape measure and a scale. Growth in our Christian life requires ‘eating’ a regular diet of the right food, exercising Spiritual discipline, and accurately measuring our progress. May we remind ourselves daily of Paul’s words in 1 Cor 9:24 - 27, ” Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
