A few weeks ago I posted about the importance of Scripture and how God is able to more fully reveal Himself to us and we are able to fully experience Him more when we surrender our all to Him.
As part of my devotions in both Lectio 365 and the YouVersion Bible App over the past few weeks I have been reminded about this time and time again.
The thing is, how do we approach the Scriptures?
Do we read them to understand and study them? Do we read them so that we can learn from them the things that we need to, so that we can be better equipped for this life? Do we attempt to master the learnings that we gleam from His word? Do we actually believe that God is present as we read them? Do we seek to know Him more and the message that He has for us as we read His word?
The writer of Psalm 119 does and he responds to every challenge that life throws at him with the same answer – Live according to God’s Word!
Counter to what many believe and or have been told, God’s commands don’t hold us back – they set us free! They give us a freedom that we have to be extremely careful with.
Bernard of Clairvaux, who was born in France, planted his first monastery at the age of 25 and over his lifetime he went on to establish 163 other monasteries all over Europe.
He wrote about the Scriptures:
“Our meditations on the Word who is the Bridegroom, on his glory, his elegance, power and majesty, become in a sense his way of speaking to us. And not only that, but when with eager minds we examine his rulings, the decrees from his own mouth; when we meditate on his law day and night, let us be assured that the Bridegroom is present, and that he speaks his message of happiness to us lest our trials should prove more than we can bear.“
I don’t know about you but sometimes when I approach the Word I do so in a utilitarian manner, I want to find something that ‘I‘ deem useful and then use it to achieve whatever desired result that I’m looking for, be that to justify a point of view, or to respond to someone with a certain vantage point.
Now come on people, I know I’m not the only one 🙂 We all do it from time to time especially when it comes to our interpretation of a particular verse or Biblical truth that we are wanting to defend or stamp our flag in the ground.
There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.
Bernard espouses that we need to meditate on the Word and truly hear. Being attentive to what it is that the Holy Spirit reveals.
Not reading about a particular passage, phrase or point of view and justifying our understanding, or the interpretation that has been patterned for us.
I reckon this is what Jesus was constantly challenging the Pharisees and the Sadducees about – they had a particular bent, or take on His Word and had fitted it into their box to justify their actions, and the expectations that they then put on the people.
If we read the Word in the way that Bernard encourages us to do so, then we may find that it redirects our thinking and changes our emotional behaviour as well as how we respond to others with the Word for the better.
You see some say that the hardest and longest journey that a person can take is the 18 inches from our head to our heart. Bernard taught that meditating on the Word creates that vital link.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that; “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (New International Version)
Therefore, we need to be extremely careful with His Word and how we use it! We need to take it seriously, unfortunately though many believers have a bad habit of taking God’s Word lightly and adjusting it to suit themselves and justifying one’s point of view.
We need to be extremely careful with how we interpret His Word and what we have come to understand of it from the many interpretations that have been handed down to us, just as much as we also need to be careful with our own words, for they can bring life or death.
The writer of Proverbs reminds us of this when he says that we “will be rewarded for what [we] say; [we] will be rewarded by how [we] speak. What [we] say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.” Proverbs 18:20-21 (New Century Version)
In Proverbs 12:6 he is a bit more blunt; “Evil people use their words to hurt others, but the words from good people can save others from danger.” (English Standard Version)
Jesus’ warns us in Matthew 12:36-37 “that everyone will have to account on judgment day for every word they’ve spoken that hasn’t done any good. [We] will be found guilty or not guilty based on our words.”
(Radiate New Testament)
We’ll be found guilty or not guilty of bringing life to others based on our words and how we have taken and used His Word.
The thing is, when we come to fully realise the importance of the power of our words and how much they have the potential to affect the lives of others and our eternity – maybe all the backbiting, gossiping, evil-speaking and anger will be eliminated from our lives. Maybe we will be able to set aside our opposing views and opinions and “seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.”
The apostle Paul reminds us to not “say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that [we] can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what [we] say will help those who hear [us].” Ephesians 4:29 (Names of God Bible)
You see, all who take the words of Jesus seriously will be radical in cutting out those words from every part of their speech that can tear others down, and they will take His Word seriously, not adding to it or taking anything away from it.
In closing you may like to say the following prayer; Thank you, Father, that I am nourished by Your word; it is as sweet as honey. I know that if I take the time to savour its taste, it is a doorway of revelation, a doorway of encounter, but, so often, I bolt it down like fast food.
Today, I choose to slow down. Help me to meditate on Your word and listen, allow me the time and space to steep myself in Your word, expectant and hungry for Your voice.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your word and the encouragement that it can provide for me and the lives of those that come across my path. Help me to bring life to them through the careful use of Your word and may it bear fruit in my life for Your glory.
Spirit may you nourish and continue to guide my life as I seek to be more and more like Christ in all I do and say. Amen.
Blessings ’til next time 🙂
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