In the Beginning was The Word

You start your day annoyed by your alarm clock thinking about having to go to your boring, mind numbing job in which you take no joy. You just want to stay home and get things done around the house! You rush around to get ready and then it’s time to help your spouse get your kids ready. You’re already in a state of elevated stress and your focus is lacking as one kid needs a poopy diaper changed and the other is playing hide and seek while you try to change him. Maybe you don’t have kids but you’re all too familiar with the rest of it and you break your shoelace or get begin to feel sick as you leave for work. Whatever our state we can always seem not to be in the right mind for our day. Then we go to work and take that disappointment into the day so when anything troublesome comes our way we react on our anger or become even more depressed because of it. We feel bad because as Christians we’re supposed to be set apart showing the love of God but we rarely feel like we are operating in the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

How can this be? What is different about my Christian friend who always seems to be flying high? There’s a couple different answers to these questions but in this article we want to look at how getting into scripture daily can effect our lives and impact the lives of those around us. Let us begin, well, with scripture!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God,” John 1:1-2. This scripture shows us not only that the word was Jesus but He and it has been around since the beginning with God and is God! How powerful to know that just by reading your bible you are interacting with God!

Another scripture to help us understand the importance of reading it is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “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 complete, equipped for every good work.” Here we see scripture is literally the breath of God and we know from the creation story the word for breath is how humans are given their life. The same breath which has given you life has spoken through the bible, isn’t that incredible? So can’t we conclude that if the same breath and word which is in the scriptures is the same breath which gave us life in the beginning of our existence, so that would mean the bible can give or speak life into us?

A lot of times we start our day without including God in it. Whether simply meditating on the word, praying, listening to Christian music, or a litany of other things you could do to interact with God on a daily basis, we need to actively seek Him at the outset of our days. This can get us in the right mentality to battle the spiritual fight coming our way. We then need to remain in His presence throughout the day. Memorizing scripture can help in the continued battle when the evil spirits try and knock you around.

So what are some things we can do to get into scripture?

1. Just read – You don’t have to have a degree to read or understand the word of God. The scriptures were written to the people of their time but for all people of all times.
2. Study – There are many people who never go to school but become teachers and pastors and know a lot about the word. God can bring revelations to you as well when you read! It’s good to always remember context of a passage and most of the rules of modern language still apply to older languages as well like metaphor, using one word in multiple meanings, historical narratives vs. illustrative narrative, etc. Sometimes we read everything literally and without understanding the meaning of the words can read something not quite right into the scriptures or miss out on connections the writer was trying to make to older texts.
3. Find commentaries – I hesitate to say this because there are so many books out their with their own views on everything. Simply reading the word can be enough and can be hard enough to discern on its own sometimes. Adding others’ views on top of it can seem to complicate it more. We need to remember to test it against the contexts of scripture and see if it lines up. After all, if the bible is truth then everything should line up with it and no the other way around.
4. Memorize scripture – Try to take a couple smaller faith building verses which you feel really speak to you and repeat them until you can even vaguely recite it without looking at the word. It feels awkward at first but once you get it down God can use this as a way to bring you His knowledge at a timely point in your life or for a word of encouragement for someone else who is struggling.
5. Talk to other Christian friends – God has given us His body to help build us up through edification and sharpening! It’s hard in today’s age to get into honest, thoughtful, loving conversation about anything so it’s important to make sure both sides know not to be offended in anything you discuss and not to say anything not in love. We are passionate beings and can sometimes get focused on the wrong things. We are all learning and not one of us has perfect doctrine of God. If we did we’d be God.
6. Meditate on the word – Thinking about the meaning behind a scripture and letting it sink into your soul is beneficial. This can help with meditation and gives you peace in whatever situation you’re going through. God will also reveal things to you in these times you never saw before!
7. Listen – You can find the bible on any media source available which means you can listen to it in your car on the way to and from anywhere you go! Reading is one way we learn but hearing can enhance the story to us in another way.

There may be other ways you’re thinking of how you get in the word which have really helped in your walk, awesome! There’s no way in which getting into the bible is worse than not. Remember, God has spoken life into you and has given you more of that life through His word. Continue to let it speak to you and give you direction.