For me there is a constant battle within myself to remain focused with fresh clarity the beauty and wonder of Scripture. I am often disappointed with myself after opening the Bible and feeling no "revelation" or appreciation of God's holiness. Or worse, sometimes I don't desire to open the Word at all. How do I keep my amazement with God's Word? How do I fight boredom with the Bible?Yesterday on the Desiring God website, I read an article by John Piper in which he tackles this battle of maintaining your familiarity with the Bible without growing cold to it. It is a short article so I want to post his entire explanation below:
I pray Psalm 119:18 each time I go to the Bible: "Open my eyes that I may behold wonders in your law." I think the point of that prayer is that there are wonders everywhere in the law, in the Bible, in the instruction of God. And the psalmist is aware that he doesn't often feel or see wonderful things as wonderful. So he asks for it.
So my first and main strategy is that as I go to the source of wonders, namely, the revelation of God in his word, I'm asking specifically that I would have spiritual eyes to see what is wonderful as wonderful.
I would commend to every listener that you don't take it for granted that the wonders will be seen. And don't think that it doesn't matter that you read glorious things without seeing them as glorious. It matters, and therefore we should plead with God to open our eyes.
... plead with God to open our eyes. God is my Teacher and Instructor. He is also the Source of those wonders in Scripture. I must rely on His power to open my understanding and bring light to my mind.
Anyone else have any thoughts or insights on this? :)
As usual, John Piper has some wonderful insights. I have found that I can become overly familiar with certain portions of the Bible and read through them too quickly. Reading slowly, with frequent stops to ponder on what I have read, helps.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while reading through the gospels, and all the stories of how Jesus relates to the people, I have tried to picture the scene that is being described. After all, these were real people and real events. This has brought much insight into what had previously only been a narrative of events.
Thanks for this post. May God continue to open our eyes to His wonderous Word.
Those are great insights, Eirene! Thank you for sharing. I like the advice about reading the gospels. I actually have tried that before and it did help. Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteAmen! That's one of my favorite scriptures and one I pray often. I also think it's so important to spend time in God's word daily for many reasons, not the least of which is momentum. Like anything else, if you spend a lot of time in the Bible it breeds a desire and a rhythm to continue doing it. When you approach it sporadically it's less desirable.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Eirene about picturing the scene. I often forget how wonderful some of the stories are in the Bible because I've heard them so many times (for instance, the story of the fives loaves and fish, Jonah, Christ's death and resurrection) that it sometimes almost doesn't seem real... just like a story. I always have to stop and think... Wow, that really happened, wow, He really did do all these things! I really sturggle with reading the Bible, so thanks a lot for all yoru insights!
ReplyDeleteCamille
Bonita, what a good insight: spending a lot of time in the Bible breeds a desire to read more. Beautifully put. :) I have found the same thing true.
ReplyDeleteCamille, I know exactly what you mean. And picturing the story is really helpful. I think making an effort to understand and really taking God's Word serious is a great start and help in Bible reading. Thanks for your comment!
Good thinking points!
ReplyDeleteTo keep myself actively interested in reading the Bible, I try to remember that whenever I have a question on my mind I need to see what the Bible has to say about it...I like to start with a word like "sincerity", "trust" or "knowledge" or a topic like government or health or prayer. The pure 100% accurate history is always a motivation too!
And to see how the whole Bible is a long, wonderful letter to us telling a story that we're a part of...some times reading the last verse of Revelation gives me that choked up feeling of finishing a good book and being in awe at how it all unfolded - but yet I feel excited in knowing that the story will never end!
I love how your blog posts are just the right length - not too short or too long. Mine often end up so long that I think some people don't get to finish reading. :)
~Amanda~
Great thoughts, Amanda. I feel the same way about reading in Revelation... it is SO amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you like the length of my posts. I work hard to have them about this length. I know a lot of people don't have time to read one of my epistles! ;) Although I can write a pretty long one!
I struggle with this so often. I'll appreciate this insight....thanks Kaysie for posting this...
ReplyDeleteBrianna
[...] to make your time in the Bible a rewarding learning experience. If you liked this post then you may like this one [...]
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what you are saying. I remember how I was very interested in God's word when I was 15 or 16. I used to read it with dedication. But I guess I took the ability to enjoy the word of God for granted - things usually go bad when you take thigns for granted, I started to lose the interest for God's word. That topped off with the life style I started to develop ( a life style of sin )the following 13 years has completely drained the love I used to have for God's word. Now at the brink of my confusion, I started to turn to God and to His word. Yes, it is very difficult to even open the Bible. And knowing that I have lived with a sinful life style for 13 years, it may not be easy for me to have the love of the word. But one thing I know. Either I feel it or not I have to read the word of God more than daily. It is upto God's timing to get me to that place where I used to experience His presence. But I know one way to get closer to God is to read His word. It seems like God doesn't want to get near me. Yet again, I know He always wants to have fellowship with us humans - what more way to show that beyond dying for a sinner like me. Yeah I rumble a lot, but that is what I know. But again thanks for that scripture of Psalms 119. I will try to make it a habit of asking God to "Open my eyes that I may behold wonders in His law".
ReplyDeleteGlory be to God.
One of the things I tell people is that it is not about what we bring to the scriptures or about what we feel. We don't work on the scriptures, God's word works on us. It is powerful even when we don't feel it. I love the fact that even when my attitude is bad, God can come in and open my eyes to the wonders of His word. He doesn't always do this as I am reading it. Most of the time He comes like a Father and reminds me of the scriptures and then teaches me about what I have read. Knowing that He is faithful and understanding that His word is powerful, helps me to read the scriptures even though my attitude and heart are often at odds with this.
ReplyDelete