“Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Psalm 1: 1,2
(How) do *you* “meditate” on the law of God “day and night”? I am always curious about hearing how fellow Christians read the Scriptures, reaping the benefits that this Psalm speaks about.
Since I know, however, that there are Believers who struggle to regularly do it, I thought this month I would share a few pointers, and my own practice. I am moderately dogmatic about the first one, and not at all about the second — you need to find what works for you there, and I share my own practice purely to give you an idea to get going, or help you to incorporate a new practice you might find helpful.
Before I do that, though, I’d like to point out how privileged we are. Historically, having the Bible as accessible as we do is a new phenomenon. And even today, many of our brothers and sisters have much more limited access than we do to the Word of God. Let’s make sure we use this privilege to the full.
# Pointers:
– *Be intentional*. Set aside (consecrate) time in the Word. Meditation is turning over God’s Words in our heart — and mouth! (ask me about this one…) As you have set meal times, set aside time for feeding on the Bread of Life.
– *Be systematic*. Don’t randomly pick passages, and don’t rely on devotionals alone. As you aim for a wholesome diet, aim for feeding on the whole counsel of God.
– *Make time for it*. I know many will tell you to read what you can, even if it’s 5 minutes. I won’t tell you that; that is bad and unhealthy practice. We find time for what we want to do. Meditating on the Bible should be no exception.
– *Enjoy it*. Pray that the Lord will give you a hunger and thirst for God, and that He would satisfy you with Himself. Pray for taste of heaven’s joys, the sweet honey of God’s Word, so that you may be able to taste and see that the Lord is good. # Practice I read the Bible in three “rhythms”, and I find that this helps me both to slow down and savour details, and to read longer portions of the Scriptures.
For me, the general daily Bible schedule looks like this:
– *Morning*. My “deep dive”, slowly studying through a book of the Bible. I have no concern for how long this takes — if I am for years in a book (and I am…), so be it! I stick to one Bible that I’d like to know well. – *Afternoon*. I follow a Bible reading plan, which takes me through the whole Bible over a certain time. Unless something grabs my attention, I won’t stop and linger. When I get to the end, I start over, in a different Bible.
– *Evening*. I read through the Bible cover to cover, but with no reference to time: as in the morning, it takes as long as it does. I started reading the Bible like this last summer, and now I am in Esther. I’ll finish when I finish, then I start over, in a different Bible. Again: I am not dogmatic about this one, and I am flexible to shuffle things on any given day: but I try to stick to the reading plan and at least the morning routine. I include other materials in my devotional time (and dedicate time to pray!), but that’s a different subject.
Calix
Pastor
June 2024
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