I used to look at scripture as a secret code that needed to be deciphered. I used to believe that if I could explain a verse in my own way I conquered it. Like I had it nailed down in my brain and I didn’t need to revisit it. I already attained it. Even Bible memory was a game I played in elementary school because I would get various rewards for memorizing verses. I’m not saying it was a bad thing, it certainly wasn’t. But on top of memorizing the Bible I practiced expecting to get something I wanted after I was successful. The Bible was a means to an end for me but not the end that God designed it for. I used it to get candy, a good grade, and a pat on the back from my parents.
I’m so thankful for those times because the Lord used that Bible memory practice and is still using it to reveal himself to me in radical ways. I know Psalm 23 so well because I memorized it when my younger brother was memorizing it for Kindergarten. I repeat it to myself all the time and I see Jesus fulfilling it throughout the New Testament. It is all about Him after all. Thinking about it, the Holy Spirit can call it to my mind because I agreed with the practice of putting it in there. If I never memorized it, would it still be speaking to me today? No, it wouldn’t. What I did to get candy and approval, the Lord now uses to give me Himself. It’s an amazing thing and makes me hungry for more. So, when we are reading the Word as our Daily Bread, we have to be careful to read it also with the Spirit of Christ. Our minds must be quieted. Our personal interpretations of it are so limited by our miniscule amount of experience and fickle feelings. We must come to the Word humbly. The Bible is not a thing to be conquered with our brains. It is the lamp to our feet and the light for our path. It prompts us to walk, to move, to do. As Tozer says, it is the road to our destination → perfect union with the Lord of all things.
My wife Alysha and I host a podcast called Disrupt the Comfort. In it we discuss what the Lord has been teaching us and how the Lord is moving us out of darkness into light. Look us up on YouTube or Spotify.
Check out our woodworking shop! It helps fund our Disrupt the Comfort ministry. If you have any custom furniture or home décor needs, please reach out! mbwwstudios@gmail.com