Week 1
Discipline: SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 4:12
“He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.”
Psalm 147:15Reflection: Living Words
The first disciples of Jesus were students who learned from the words and actions of their master. As Dallas Willard observed, they “followed him in an attitude of study, obedience, and imitation.” They were first of all students of Jesus, who John called, “the Word (of God) made flesh”. The amazing thing for us is that even though we are removed from Jesus “in the flesh” by thousands of years and miles, we are not “second hand disciples”. We too are students of Jesus and in turn “the Word of God made flesh” through scripture, that by the power of the Holy Spirit is a “living Word”. For those of us who by faith follow Jesus, we do not read scripture as merely a record or history of what God said to people long ago, but we listen through it actively and prayerfully for what God is saying to us personally in the present.
There is certainly a useful place for the academic pursuit of scripture through “critical” methods of study, but in the life of discipleship we are more interested in letting scripture do the work of “breaking into us” and searching “the thoughts and intentions of our hearts” than we are breaking into scripture to search for historical accuracy or “cracking the code” for hidden meaning. To sit prayerfully and expectantly with the Word is to sit at the feet of our Master with “ears to hear what the Spirit is saying”. This kind of study of scripture is devotional not academic, it is to open more than simply our eyes and minds, it is to “open the eyes of our hearts” that “we might see Jesus”, attend carefully to His words of hope promise, challenge, and direction, and through it all to experience the mystery of His presence.
This week set aside uninterrupted time daily to “listen” for God speaking through scripture. Begin this time with scripture with the simple prayer of Samuel as a boy, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Read slowly, expectantly, and reflectively using the gift of imagination to put yourself in the presence of Jesus, hearing his words to you personally.
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