"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path..."
When I see those words, I hear a song in my head. It was a favorite of mine from my early exposure to Contemporary Christian Music when I was in college.
My introduction to the Bible and Bible reading was made a few years prior to that by my parents. When I was a young child, many nights of the week in our home in Flatwoods I would see them each individually taking time to read through their "Sunday School lesson" and the associated Bible passages. They were preparing to participate in their class at Stevens Grove Baptist Church. I could tell there was something special about that book.
I really became interested one year as we prepared for our church's Vacation Bible School (VBS). We had borrowed a state-of-the-art supplemental teaching method. It was a recording of someone teaching Bible stories on cassette tapes accompanied by slides viewed via a slide projector. Something like this...
I was so interested I made my parents sit with me as we watched and listened to many different Bible stories for several nights in the weeks leading up to VBS. (We actually burned through one projector bulb). I was fascinated at the different stories that I was hearing.
Church was a weekly habit for us, and each Sunday as I grew up I attended a small Sunday School class where we studied the Bible...wearing my "Sunday best" of course. Every sermon during worship was about a passage of scripture. On the most special day of each week, we focused on that one book. The Bible.
One Christmas, during a time period when our church was "thriving", the church gave a basket of goodies (candy and nuts) and our very own Bibles to all of us kids in the church. (There were probably 6 or 7 of us in the entire church at that time...note that there were times when I was the only kid in the church).
I had my own Bible!! It was my most favorite Christmas present that year. I wonder whatever happened to it? It wasn't a leather cover or anything. It was blue. King James Version. Words of Christ in red. I think it eventually fell apart.
As the years rolled on I was always interested in the Bible, some years to a greater degree than others. Now as I've gotten older it's become very precious to me. It's God's love letter...to me! Sometimes if I don't watch it, I can focus on regret that I wasn't more consistent in years past in spending time in God's Word. But then again, there are things about our pasts that I think we'd all change.
Regardless, the Bible is very important to me now.
It even says it's important within the text.
"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (1 Timothy 3:16-17)
I want to be thoroughly equipped for every good work! The more I read the Bible, the more I see things about myself that God wants to change. That He IS changing.
Here are some more key passages...passages that I focus on more and more.
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
"For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105 - KJV)
These days I try to start each day in God's word. I try to spend time in the Bible during the day, and I try to end the day in His word. I've tried many different methods and plans and approaches to reading and studying the Bible through the years. There are many more I want to try. If I do nothing else important in the days I have left on this earth, I want to be more and more and more familiar with God's Holy Word.
A few years ago I was introduced to a method of Bible reading (and journaling) that I hadn't experienced before. It's called the H.E.A.R. method. The letters form the approach. Highlight, Explain, Apply, Respond.
I had obtained a copy of The Disciple's Study Bible. The H.E.A.R. method is built into this edition of the Bible.
The articles included in the Bible describing the method were by Robby Gallaty, Founder and President of Replicate Ministries and, as of this writing, Senior Pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN. I'm not sure if he originally came up with the method, but I'll at least point you in his direction for credit.
I started going through the Bible using this method on my own, then a small group of which I'm a part (The Old Man's Club) decided to do it as well. We went through the entire Bible using the H.E.A.R. method and I discovered things I'd never learned before. Our discussion was enjoyable. We all looked forward to it each week, anxious to see how God was speaking to each other. We were able to encourage each other with the things God was teaching us. We've recently started again, going through different Bible books randomly using the method.
If you've struggled to get through the Bible or even struggled just in reading it, I'd encourage you to try this approach. I'm including a description below from Replicate Ministries. Give it a try!! Let me know how it works for you!
Taking Another Step...
David.
P.S. Study of the Bible is one of the Disciplines of the Christ Follower. Be disciplined.
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H.E.A.R. Bible Reading/Journaling Method by Robby Gallaty
The H.E.A.R. journaling method promotes reading the Bible with a life-transforming purpose. No longer will your focus be on checking off the boxes on your daily reading schedule; your purpose will instead be to read in order to understand and respond to God’s Word. Let’s talk more about how to do a HEAR Journal.
How do complete a HEAR Journal
The acronym H.E.A.R. stands for Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. Each of these four steps contributes to creating an atmosphere to hear God speak. After settling on a reading plan and establishing a time for studying God’s Word, you will be ready to H.E.A.R. from God.
For an illustration, let’s assume that you begin your quiet time in the book of 2 Timothy, and today’s reading is the first chapter of the book. Before reading the text, pause to sincerely ask God to speak to you. It may seem trite, but it is absolutely imperative that we seek God’s guidance in order to understand His Word (1 Corinthians 2:12-14). Every time we open our Bibles, we should pray the simple prayer that David prayed: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law (Word)” (Psalm 119:18).
After praying for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, open your notebook or journal, and at the top left-hand corner, write the letter H. This exercise will remind you to read with a purpose. In the course of your reading, one or two verses will usually stand out and speak to you. After reading the passage of Scripture, Highlight each verse that speaks to you by copying it under the letter “H”. Write out the following:
The name of the book
The passage of Scripture
The chapter and verse numbers that especially speak to you
A title to describe the passage
This practice will make it easier to find the passage when you want to revisit it in the future.
After you have highlighted the passage, write the letter “E” under the previous entry. At this stage, you will EXPLAIN what the text means. By asking some simple questions, with the help of God’s Spirit, you can understand the meaning of a passage or verse. The next chapter will teach you in detail how to understand the meaning of a passage. (DGS Note: This article was taken from a website that had other information on Bible Study.) Until then, here are a few questions to get you started:
Why was this written?
To whom was it originally written?
How does it fit with the verses before and after it?
Why did the Holy Spirit include this passage in the book?
What is He intending to communicate through this text?
At this point, you are beginning the process of discovering the specific and personal word that God has for you from His Word. What is important is that you are engaging the text and wrestling with its meaning.
After writing a short summary of what you think the text means, write the letter “A” below the letter “E”. Under the “A”, write the word Apply. This application is the heart of the process. Everything you have done so far culminates under this heading. As you have done before, answer a series of questions to uncover the significance of these verses to you personally, questions like:
How can this help me?
What does this mean today?
What would the application of this verse look like in my life?
What does this mean to me?
What is God saying to me?
As you complete your HEAR journal, these questions bridge the gap between the ancient world and your world today. They provide a way for God to speak to you from the specific passage or verse. Answer these questions under the “A”. Challenge yourself to write between two and five sentences about how the text applies to your life.
Finally, below the first three entries, write the letter “R” for Respond. This is the last part of the HEAR Journal. Your response to the passage may take on many forms. You may write a call to action. You may describe how you will be different because of what God has said to you through His Word. You may indicate what you are going to do because of what you have learned. You may respond by writing out a prayer to God. For example, you may ask God to help you to be more loving, or to give you a desire to be more generous in your giving. Keep in mind that this is your response to what you have just read.
Notice that all of the words in the HEAR Journal formula are action words: Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. God does not want us to sit back and wait for Him to drop some truth into our laps. Instead of waiting passively, God desires that we actively pursue Him. Jesus said,
Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7).
Think of the miracle of the Bible. Over centuries of time, God supernaturally moved upon a number of men in an unusual way that resulted in them writing the exact words of God. God led His people to recognize these divine writings and to distinguish them from everything else that has ever been written. Then God’s people brought these sixty-six books together. The preservation and survival of the Bible are as miraculous as its writing. Then God gave men, beginning with Gutenberg’s printing press, technological knowledge to copy and transmit the Bible so that all people could have it. All because God has something to say to you.
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