When you read the Bible, what is your goal? Perhaps it is to develop a more robust Biblical theology. Or to meet your goal of reading the entire Bible in a year. Maybe you are gaining information about who God is and what He has done throughout history.
But what if reading our Bible wasn’t just about accumulating information for our minds, but was also a way of feeding our souls?
Hunt for Food for your Soul
I recently read a great article by David Mathis – ‘How to Take the Bible to Heart’.
I was really challenged by this quote –
“Read the Bible not to gather information or hammer out the contours of theology, but to hunt for food for your soul.” – David Mathis
Hunt for food for your soul. Hunting is not something you rush over. You spend time stalking your prey. You wait. You search. You listen.
I’m afraid I may have unconciously turned my Bible reading into an overly rational, endeavor. I have rushed over God’s word to reach the end of my reading plan, when I should have been slowly pondering, even meditating on the wonders of God revealed in His word. I think I may have turned it into something impersonal, something that exercises my mind, but rarely touches my heart.
I have hunted for a better systematic theology, rather than daily food for my starving soul.
Here are the words of Jesus –
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” – Matt 4:4
In the same way our bodies need food for sustained life and growth, our souls need food as well. And this is a food only God can provide.
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” – Psalm 119:103
Read the Bible to your Heart
So how do we switch from treating the Bible as just information to process? How do we let it become food for our souls?
Here is the 3-step process David Mathis uses daily to remind himself to read the Bible to his heart:
1. Begin with Bible
Start off with the Bible because you always want to start with God’s voice, not yours. He should speak first.
2. Move to Meditation
When your soul is drawn to a word or phrase of God’s goodness in your reading, let it steep in your mind and heart. Savour it. Meditation means lingering or dwelling on something. Slow down your mind and your heart, and linger on God’s breathed out word.
3. Polish with Prayer
Polish it all with prayer. Rather than turning to your prayer list, let the content of the day’s mediation direct your prayer.
Our Starving Souls
Don’t get me wrong, their are many, many benefits to Bible reading plans, Biblical systematic theologies, and prayer lists, but I wonder if we have in the pursuit of a better theology been starving our very souls.
This is a challenge to slow down and hunt for food for your soul in God’s word. Savour His goodness in your heart. Read the Bible to not only your mind, but also to your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)
