Why is it hard to just pull out a Bible and start reading?
the importance of posture as we approach God's Word
It’s not always the easiest thing to just pull out a Bible and start reading. Have you ever felt that tension?
Why is that sometimes the case?
I mean, it’s a book. It’s in our language. Can’t we just read it? Well, yes. And no.
Yes, we can read the words on the page.
No, the words won’t mean much out of context, without the right posture as we approach the reading of God’s Word.
And, I think that’s actually one of the reasons we avoid reading the Bible…it costs us something.
It doesn’t just cost time, but focus. And then, after we’ve focused, it costs us action. We usually have to do something with what we’ve read - either think more deeply on it or choose a different way of responding in a hard situation or completely abandon an old habit we’ve grown comfortable with and establish a new one.
The Bible can be a difficult thing to read because it is living and active. It affects you when you read it. There is power in the Word of God!
Because there is power, we cannot just give up because it costs or makes us uncomfortable or requires a little more energy or focus when we engage with it.
How, then, should we approach our Bible reading time? Over the course of the next few posts I want to share some of the ways Pastor Matt Smethurst shares in his little book Before You Open Your Bible: Nine Heart Postures for Approaching God’s Word. As I share each posture, I’ll share some quotes from the book and a little commentary on them that will hopefully prove helpful as we all seek to engage the Word of God in ever more significant ways.
First, we come to the Word of God Prayerfully
Remember, this is something done before reading. So, instead of praying in response to God’s Word, for some application or something the Scriptures brought to mind that day, we are coming to the Bible in prayerful anticipation for what God has for us in His Word.
There is an expectation that He will move and a preparation of the heart to hear what He will say and act upon what He moves us to do.
Charles Spurgeon is quoted saying, “Texts will often refuse to reveal their treasures till you open them with the key of prayer.” (9-10)
If that is true, how quickly may we move to a prayerful posture as we come to God’s Word so we may unleash its full treasure!
Second, we come to the Word of God Humbly
Humility is seeing oneself through the proper lens; through the lens of the eyes of your loving heavenly Father. Humilty helps you see yourself as you were created and designed to be, nothing more and nothing less. As C.S. Lewis so rightly said: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
What does humility have to do with the way we read the Bible?
Humility puts us into a posture of surrender so we can hear the Word of God and do what it says even if it is costly.
“We should never take for granted that the exalted Creator would befriend the work of his hands. But that’s precisely what he did… The Bible you possess is evidence that God loves you and wants a relationship with you. No matter who you are or how many times you’ve spurned his love, he is still moving toward you, still talking to you—still befriending you—through a book.”
Matt Smethurst, Before You Open Your Bible, p. 18-19
That’s all we’ll tackle today. Next time, we’ll look at postures three, four, and five. Until then, may we all approach God’s Word with prayer and humility.