Christians in the past have not always agreed on how detailed to be when it comes to the mechanics of spiritual disciplines. The sinful human heart has a tendency toward legalism, and there is no better way to become legalistic than to boil down the spiritual life to a checklist that can be mechanically accomplished.
And yet the spiritual life is more like climbing up a mountain than sliding down a slide. It takes effort and toil. There are obstacles to overcome, and there are times when you will feel like giving up. What will you do then? Because every believer in Jesus Christ will feel like this at some point, it is important to have some basic mechanics to help, lest we fail to reach the summit.
So here are five things to keep in mind as you work to make Bible reading a spiritual discipline:
1. Commit to reading the Bible each and every day.
The Bible is the Christian's nourishment. Just as we need healthy food every day, we need the Word every day. It was Jesus who said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." He was citing a truth that God's people had been told since their days of wandering in the wilderness (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3).
2. Adopt a plan for Bible reading.
There are many plans, and I've written on them before. The key is to know what you are going to read before you actually sit down to read. In addition to choosing a plan that will get you through the Bible once or twice in the year, consider the following:
-- Read a chapter of Proverbs each day. You can finish the book in a month.
-- Read a section of Psalm 119 each day. That, too, will take you about a month.
-- Choose a book of the Bible to carefully and slowly work through.
-- Choose your reading around what is being taught at church. If the pastor publishes the texts he will be preaching from in advance, read that passage throughout the week. If you know what text your Sunday School teacher is going to be teaching from, camp out there. Do what you can to prepare yourself for the teaching that will take place on the Lord's Day. In other words, come prepared.
3. Read prayerfully.
When we read the Bible we ought to be aware of our need for God to apply His Truth to our lives. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. We must depend upon Him, therefore, in prayer. Remember Paul's words to the church in Corinth: "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God" (1 Cor. 2:11-12). I take this to mean we are in desperate, constant need of God's Spirit to help us truly, deeply, and really understand God's Word. Thus, before we read, as we read, and after we read, we should pray for insight into God's Word that we might understand it better and know how to apply it to our lives.
4. Meditate as you read.
It is interesting how often in the Psalms we are called upon to "meditate" upon God's Word -- His commands, decrees, and statutes. So, for example, Psalm 119:47-48, ". . . I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes." To meditate, in the biblical sense, is to do more than simply read, it is to force yourself to become familiar with God's Word and, thus, with God's nature. Commenting upon this text, Spurgeon noted, "Happy are they who stand with hands lifted both to receive blessing and to obey the precept. They will not wait on the Lord in vain." To meditate is to read eagerly, prayerfully, with a willingness to obey the Word and with a hunger to enjoy it.
5. Ask good questions of the Bible as you read.
This makes all the difference for any reading, but especially for Bible reading. It is questions that get us into the text. It is questions the prove we are curious about the text. It is questions that lead us to the answers we want--even if it takes some work. The first questions I was taught to ask any text were:
i. What does the text say?
Try to state in your own words what the passage you are reading is plainly stating. Sometimes this is really, really easy. Sometimes it will take a bit of thinking.
You may read, for example, in Mark 2:5 where Jesus tells a paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven." The scribes are shocked and they respond by saying, "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Now what does this passage say? Simply that one day in Capernaum Jesus Christ said he forgave a man of his sins. Simply that a group of religious leaders believed Jesus to be blaspheming; they understood Jesus to be claiming an authority that belonged to God.
The first thing you should do when you come to passage is take the time necessary to restate the passage in your own words, to make sure you know what it says.
ii. What does the text mean?
Now you are in the realm of interpretation. Take that passage in Mark 2. It says that Jesus forgave sins. It says that the Jews thought Jesus was claiming equality with God. But what does that passage mean? This is an important question!
To get to the answer, you have to interpret the text. I would say that this text means that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. It means that Jesus is more than just a man, he is God, the Lord of the universe. That is what the text means.
After figuring out what a text says, you need to go to work figuring out what it means. The more you read the Bible, the more you study the Bible--in small groups, as your church gathers, and even alone--the easier it will be to understand the meaning of the text. This is where having a good study Bible, a Bible Dictionary, and even a nice commentary can come in handy.
iii. What does the text mean to me?
Only now are we ready to apply the text to our own lives. In Hebrews 4:12 we are told, "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." And Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." Therefore, we can trust that every text from the Bible is a life-changing passage.
Go back to Mark 2:5-6. If Jesus is God, this truth must change our life today. There must be an area of your life that, for whatever reason, you are failing to place completely under the authority of Jesus Christ. What is that area of your life? If Jesus has the power to forgive sins, he is God! He deserves our worship. So in what area of your life are you tempted to remove from the realm of Christ's authority?
But we also know that Jesus forgives sin. There is hope for you. Where do you need to turn to Jesus for forgiveness? This passage should lead you to examine your own life and uncover sin that needs to be confessed and repented of, that you might be able enjoy afresh the forgiveness that comes through the finished work of Christ.
Applying Scripture to your life is hard work, but it is worth the effort.
What does this passage say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me? Over time, questions like this really do become second nature. You start asking them naturally.
Just as there are different reading plans, there are different sets of questions people find helpful when reading the Bible. Let me commend a more detailed set of questions. It is called: C.O.M.A. It stands for Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application. David Helm, in his book, One to One Bible Reading offers a ton of questions that come under these four headings. He has altered them for each genre of Scripture and he has made them available free, online, here. They can be copied and re-used.
Whatever questions you ask, the key is to ask them each and every time you read. Wrestle with the text. We all want to marvel at the wonders of God's Word. But this often takes a good deal of work.
If you have ever climbed a mountain, you know what it is like to be rewarded at the very top. After hours of struggle and toil, when your muscles ache and you feel like you can hardly climb another step all of a sudden you set your gaze on the most beautiful sight you've ever seen. From the top of the mountain your eyes behold a beautiful vista--peaks and valleys, eagles nesting in branches, mountain flowers blooming in the sun. And the sight is all the more glorious because of the effort it took to reach the top.
So it is with the reading of Scripture. If you want to marvel at the Word of God, if you really want to enjoy it, you need to take the time to dig into Scripture. Commit to reading the Bible each and every day. Adopt a plan for Bible reading. Read prayerfully. Meditate as you read. Finally, ask good questions of the text.
The poet, Bernard Barton, summed up what our heart toward Scripture should be in his famous hymn, "Lamp of Our Feet":
Lamp of our feet, whereby we trace
Our path when wont to stray;
Stream from the fount of heavenly grace;
Brook, by the traveller's way.
Bread of our souls, whereon we feed;
True manna from on high;
Our guide and chart, wherein we read
Of realms beyond the sky.
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