Some thoughts on how to read the Bible with profit
Here's an article from Simon Wenham who works for RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries) and which was published in their Slice of Infinity emails which they send out to anyone interested. It was published under the title 'An Experimental Fellowship'. You can find out more about RZIM & Slice of Infinity here http://rzim.org/
“The
Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.” —D. L.
Moody
The
Bible may be one of the best-selling books of all time, but it is a resource
that polarises opinion. Some atheists are strongly opposed to it, as they
maintain that scripture contains unhelpful, ill-informed, and incorrect teaching
that is positively harmful for today’s society. Others take a more disinterested
view of it, as they see it as a largely irrelevant piece of literature from a
more primitive time, which inevitably contains an eclectic mixture of both good
and bad instruction. By contrast, Christians believe the Bible is not only the
word of God, but it is completely indispensable for all of humanity.
In
truth, of course, many believers find parts of scripture difficult. Some of it
is hard to understand or relate to, and the teaching doesn’t always have a
lasting or deep impact. One obvious reason for this is that people have busy
lives and whilst they often invest a great deal of energy developing their
professional skills or taking part in hobbies or leisure activities, they simply
don’t spend much time reading the Bible. Another reason is that often Christians
only engage with scripture in a fairly surface-level way, like a sportsperson
preparing for a contest by training in a manner that provides only limited
improvement.
RZIM
Chaplain, Tom Tarrants, suggests that people should look to the example of
George Müller (1805-1898) for guidance in this area. The latter was an
evangelist who achieved fame not only for helping hundreds of thousands of
British children in his orphanages and schools, but also for his steadfast faith
that the providence of God would meet the considerable needs of his many
ventures. Yet he is less known for the life-changing discovery he made in 1841,
which lay behind the deep joy and faith that defined and drove his ministry.
Although
he had routinely prayed each morning for over a decade, he realized that his
mind often wandered and it could take some time before he was conscious of any
comfort, encouragement, or humbling of his soul. He eventually came to the
conclusion that “the first great and primary business” he needed to attend to
was the nourishing of the inner self, so that the soul became “happy in the
Lord.”(1) This, he stressed, was far more important than focusing on how to
serve or glorify God, because reaching the unconverted, helping others, and
improving one’s character or behavior were all dependant on being
spiritually nourished and strengthened.
In
order to achieve this, he stressed that a believer had to enter an “experimental
fellowship with God,” which required reading and meditating on the Bible. This
process involved, firstly, asking for the Lord’s blessing upon his scripture and
then to meditate on the word “searching, as it were, into every verse, to get
blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for
the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of
obtaining food for my own soul.” Asking the Spirit for help in considering God’s
word, pondering over it, and applying it to his heart, he almost always found
that within a few minutes his soul was “led to confession, or to thanksgiving,
or to intercession, or to supplication.” In other words, despite not giving
himself to prayer, the meditation almost immediately led him to it. By speaking
to his Father and friend about the things brought before him in the Bible, he
found that he was “comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed.”
Furthermore, the process also ensured that the teaching would sink in, rather
than disappearing from his mind like water through a pipe.
After
he had been doing this for some time, he would move on to the next part of the
passage turning it “into prayer for myself or others as the Word led,” whilst
continually bearing in mind that the object of the meditation was to gain food
for the soul. In doing so, he was able to achieve a “peaceful if not happy state
of heart” that he claimed was vital for his ongoing ministry. Indeed, he
explained that the blessing he received gave him the “help and strength” to
“pass in peace” through the deeper trials of life.
What
astonished him most of all about this revelation was that he had not heard about
the approach from any believer, whether in print, public ministry, or private
conversation. It was as plain to him as anything, that this had been taught to
him by God. Furthermore, such was the “immense spiritual profit and refreshment”
that he derived from it for over forty years that he “affectionately and
solemnly” urged all believers to do the same.
If
you find the Bible difficult, or doubt its power, or simply want a new way of
reading scripture, then why not try Müller’s approach for yourself? Not only did
this “experimental fellowship with God” provide him with a deep happiness in his
soul, but it was also the foundation upon which he was able to do some amazing
things, often in the face of considerable challenges. After all, as he pointed
out, “How different it is when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the
morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the
trials and the temptations of the day come upon one.”
Simon
Wenham is research coordinator for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in
Europe.
(1)
Quotes taken from G. Müller, Autobiography of George Müller (London,
1906), 152-154.
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