Dwelling on the Word

“How is your time in God’s Word?” This is a common question we ask one another in the church when we meet up for accountability or when we want to know how someone is doing spiritually. Typically, the answer to this question is, “I’m doing fine,” or maybe more often, “It’s been a struggle.” Perhaps for many of us, the problem is that even when we are not doing ok, we do not know enough to recognize it. What do I mean by this?

If you’ve known me long enough, you know that I never have liked the term “quiet time” when referring to your time spent in God’s Word. You’ll rarely, if ever, hear me ask, “Have you been doing your quiet times?” The reason is that when I think of “quiet time,” as Christians understand this term, I think of a check off box on a list of accountability questions. You read your Bible for ten minutes in the morning, check off your box, and then move on in the day. Now you can meet with your small group and tell them that your time in God’s Word has been going well or that it has been “consistent.” But this is not the approach to God’s Word that God wants us to have.

Listen to the words of Deuteronomy 6:6-9:

[6] "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. [8] "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. [9] "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Without going into the minute details of this passage, the general message is that God wants His law to be on His people’s hearts. This is to be all day – morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Whether you’re sitting in your house or walking along the way, you should be dwelling on His Word. It is the first thing on your mind when you get up in the morning and the last thing on your mind before you lay down to sleep. If I were to come to you at any point of the day and ask you what you read earlier from God’s Word, it should be readily available on the forefront of your mind. How sad that this is not the experience of most in today’s church.

We think reading God’s Word is all it takes – as if it was like a magic book that you just have to get some time in before the day is over. An apple a day keeps the doctor away? How about a verse a day keeps the devil away? The Bible doesn’t work that way. When we allow Scripture to dwell in our minds, we allow the Spirit to teach us specifically. What does God want me to learn from this passage today? How is it particularly applicable to me? The problem is that we don’t dwell on God’s Word. We just read it and wait for it to work its magic. It’s no wonder so many Christians find their times in the Word dry and unfulfilling.

This is what meditation on God’s Word is all about. It’s emptying your mind of all the distracting thoughts of the day and then filling it with thoughts of God – His character, His works, His ways, and His will. Spending time in God’s Word is more than a duty to be checked off a list. It is supposed to be an encounter with the God of the universe! It sounds so much like sixth grade Sunday school, but maybe it’s just that we’ve forgotten that we are in constant conversation with the Lord. We speak to Him in prayer and He answers us through His Word. He’s given us His Spirit who works in our hearts, but His Spirit works particularly through His Word. We need to get back to the discipline of meditation – to dwell on God and His principles from Scripture so that we can have a more confident trust in His presence and His work in our lives.

When was the last time you were able to say, “I met with God and He taught me through His Word today”? So often instead we say something like, “I read something interesting,” or “I made some wonderful observations today.” While reading God’s Word is invaluable and making good observations is essential, it is critical that we take time to dwell on what we read and observe to understand how it instructs, guides, and challenges us, and how it applies to us.

Are you feeling dry in your walk with God? Perhaps one reason is that although you have been spending time in God’s Word, you have not allowed Him to really teach you what He wants you to learn. One practical way you can cultivate this is by keeping a journal about what you read. Don’t just summarize the passage. Jot down more specifically how the passage applies to you and what you learned from it. This will force you to think about the passage you read because you’ll want to write something worth writing. I hope that you will remember that we seek not only the Word but the God of the Word. Pursue Christ by meditating on His Word day and night.