Approaching the Bible with our heart.

There are so many different kinds of Bibles out there. Sometimes, we buy one just because it looks appealing to us. For some, it’s hard to choose their go-to Bible because they have accumulated so many. There is also the option of reading the Bible on your phone, and again, there is a wide variety of applications to choose from. The design of the Bible or translation is not as important as reading it on a daily basis. The excitement of reading out of a new Bible wears off rather quickly and we might so easily find ourselves reading through It mindlessly. It’s not that we don’t read It, we do, but we don’t always understand what we’re reading.

Many times in the past, I have opened my Bible and closed it without allowing my soul to digest it. Can you relate? We might even write verses in the margin that are beautifully calligraphic and still remain untouched by their meaning. It’s because we need to learn to meditate on Scripture. I have found that my time in the Word is not necessarily fruitful if I read more but if I ponder more. Even a chapter will do if I allow myself time to reread it and focus on the verses that God highlights to my heart. If I have read the Bible and closed it without being able to take one verse in my mind to meditate on it further and pray about it, then my time in the Bible is fruitless.

The Bible is unlike any other book and that is precisely why we need to approach It differently. Our motives for reading It should reflect our sincere desire to discover God’s ways so we can align ourselves with them. It’s important to pray to understand what we read because we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be able to truly understand the Bible. Sometimes, meditating means pondering a passage for a while, until it becomes weaved into our thinking. I know it’s not easy, and we sometimes read the Bible out of duty or routine, but if we remember to pause and acknowledge that it is the very Word of God we are about to read, then I believe that our approach will start to change over time. Let’s allow the Word to become more than something we know but something we apply. Let’s allow the Bible to define our lives!