The Word of God is the Sword of Truth, the offensive weapon with which we fight life’s battle (Eph.6:10-20). This is a foundational understanding that should dictate how we handle the Bible. A basic rule in all matters of effective weapon wielding is practice, determined and disciplined practice. Using the Sword, that is Holy Scripture is no different. It should always be pursued with diligence and a heart for growing in the will of the Lord. If I wanted to be a knight, I would need to be skilled in the art of the sword. If I wanted to be an archer, I would need to be well-practiced in the art of the bow. The Word of God is no different. Practice.
Practice is a learned discipline. It takes dedicated time to learn the art of practicing. Practice involves rigorous repetition focused on the singular goal of improvement. In regards to the Bible, practice means studying the Bible. But, like any craft, it takes work and help. Reading your Bible is not enough. You also need to find good Bible teachers with solid doctrine and firmly grounded faith to guide and direct. Reading the Bible can be a daunting task to say the least. It was written over the course of some 1500-2000 years, it has some 30+ authors. spread across the ancient world, and took make matters even more difficult it has nearly every generic form of literature. Not an easy task. Find a good teacher, or a few.
Practice requires something else too: passion for the craft when you feel no passion for the craft. Because humanity is so fickle and so emotional, we’re not always going to feel like getting into the Word. This is the flesh battling for supremacy in our lives. Instead of giving into our flesh, when we don’t feel like reading, we read. Perseverance is a good thing but it comes only when there is something for us to endure.
Therefore, when we do not feel like studying the Bible, we should be glad and joyful that God is growing our perseverance. This is a beautiful thing. God uses our flesh as the soil for our spiritual growth. Perseverance only happens when there is a hindrance; you cannot persevere if there is no struggle to overcome. This is a very simple way to continually assert who will be the Lord of your life.
Lastly, memorization. Like a painter needs to memorize the tips of his/her brushes, the chef the ingredients, the musician the music, the Christian needs to memorize the Bible. This alone can be a frightening endeavor because of the sheer weight of reading a book like the Bible. Luckily, like all of life, there are baby steps. Simply put, start with easy, fundamental verses that matter. Then, frankly, memorize it. This means spending time repeating the verse, writing it down and saying it out loud. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Remember, this will be a struggle but have hope that it is an important and worthy one. So, to get this rolling, here is one of my favorite verses and one of the first that I memorized (It took like a week, one verse at a time...):
Eph. 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing ; it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Practice is a learned discipline. It takes dedicated time to learn the art of practicing. Practice involves rigorous repetition focused on the singular goal of improvement. In regards to the Bible, practice means studying the Bible. But, like any craft, it takes work and help. Reading your Bible is not enough. You also need to find good Bible teachers with solid doctrine and firmly grounded faith to guide and direct. Reading the Bible can be a daunting task to say the least. It was written over the course of some 1500-2000 years, it has some 30+ authors. spread across the ancient world, and took make matters even more difficult it has nearly every generic form of literature. Not an easy task. Find a good teacher, or a few.
Practice requires something else too: passion for the craft when you feel no passion for the craft. Because humanity is so fickle and so emotional, we’re not always going to feel like getting into the Word. This is the flesh battling for supremacy in our lives. Instead of giving into our flesh, when we don’t feel like reading, we read. Perseverance is a good thing but it comes only when there is something for us to endure.
Therefore, when we do not feel like studying the Bible, we should be glad and joyful that God is growing our perseverance. This is a beautiful thing. God uses our flesh as the soil for our spiritual growth. Perseverance only happens when there is a hindrance; you cannot persevere if there is no struggle to overcome. This is a very simple way to continually assert who will be the Lord of your life.
Lastly, memorization. Like a painter needs to memorize the tips of his/her brushes, the chef the ingredients, the musician the music, the Christian needs to memorize the Bible. This alone can be a frightening endeavor because of the sheer weight of reading a book like the Bible. Luckily, like all of life, there are baby steps. Simply put, start with easy, fundamental verses that matter. Then, frankly, memorize it. This means spending time repeating the verse, writing it down and saying it out loud. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Remember, this will be a struggle but have hope that it is an important and worthy one. So, to get this rolling, here is one of my favorite verses and one of the first that I memorized (It took like a week, one verse at a time...):
Eph. 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing ; it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
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