Brothers and sisters, God is like a magnificent jewel with an infinite number of facets to display His beauty and glory. The spiritual disciplines of the Christian life are like paths to help us come into the presence of God to behold a different aspect of His glory. One day as you meditate on Scripture, you see one aspect of God’s glory. On another day, as you fast and pray, you see a different sight of His beauty. The problem is that too often; we get so focused on completing the spiritual discipline that we forget why we are doing it. We get so enamored with completing the discipline that we miss the point. The value in the discipline is to commune with God and behold His glory.
Today, we are going to discuss another spiritual discipline related to cultivating our relationship with God. You might start to think of these as legalistic tasks that we must pursue to be “good Christians.” You might begin to feel overwhelmed. “Yeah, I’ve got to read the Word, and study the Word, and memorize Scripture, and meditate on the Word, and pray, and fast, and worship, etc.” No! Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as paths that lead you into the presence of God to commune with Him. Think of them as tools or helps to bring you to God. They are means to an end. They are not ends in themselves. We can apply what Jesus taught about the Sabbath to the spiritual disciplines. You were not made for the spiritual disciplines. The spiritual disciplines were made for you. In other words, they serve to enable you to grow in your relationship with God.
In John 17, Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth.” Our sanctification comes through God’s Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see in the book of Hebrews how God’s Word discerns our very thoughts: “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (4:12). Our hearts can’t be trusted (Jeremiah 17), so we need God’s Word to discern our very thoughts and motives.
“Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth.”
Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as paths that lead you into the presence of God to commune with Him.
In 2 Tim. 3, we are told that all of Scripture is inspired by God, therefore it is “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” (3:16). These passages teach that God uses His Word to instruct His people. We can’t grow without Bible intake.
I discovered the life-changing value of this Spiritual Discipline almost four decades ago when a guy taught me to read, study, and memorize God’s Word. He showed me the importance of reading the Bible daily, even if I could read only a few verses per day. He said, “The Bible is our food. It feeds our spirits. Nothing is as nutritious as God’s Word, and even though we read lots of other materials, nothing nourishes us or fills us like the Scriptures. Don’t let yourself skip a day without getting the spiritual food that only God’s Word can provide.”
I soon discovered that he wasn’t just making up this concept. The Bible says much the same thing. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”
Hearing, studying, memorizing meditating, and obeying the Word are all part of this discipline and all-important in the growth of a disciple, but for today let me focus on reading the Word.
Spending time in God’s Word will take time and intentional effort. R.C. Sproul states: “We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.” Let us not be lazy! May our love for the Lord and desire to grow in godliness motivate us to diligently read the Word.
If you’re not reading the Bible regularly, then begin by starting small. Too often, we commit to reading the Bible every day for long periods, but don’t stay with it. While reading for long periods of time is excellent, devoting yourself to shorter periods in the beginning might help you continue throughout the year.
Also, be creative in how you make time for the Word. There have been times where I had long commutes that provided time for the Word and prayer. Other times I’ve gotten up early or stayed up late to make time. Some years I read through the entire Bible, other years, I focus on one specific book of the Bible. Our seasons of life may change, which is why evaluating our day and determining how we can make time requires discipline and intentionality to grow in grace.
Join me in praying that we would discipline ourselves to read God’s Word. Pray that as we encounter God through His Word, we would crave it more and more...until it is honey on our lips!
Thank you for praying. Join me on my YouTube channel, “Jeff Johnson.” Add the words “Lord’s Prayer” to the search bar for the first installment of my series on praying the Lord’s Prayer.
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