Making the Bible Come to Life

“The Word of God is living and active.”  That’s what God’s Word teaches in Hebrews 4:12.  However, in talking with people over the years, I’ve found that for so many people, the Word doesn’t seem living and active in their lives.  For many, spending time in the Bible is dull, boring and yawn-producing.  Others approach the Bible as a “to-do list” and quickly read through their chapter a day in order to check it off their spiritual duty list.  Still others have no idea where to begin as they open the Bible. 

I can honestly say the Bible is living and active in my life, and I love the Word of God with a passion!   My love for God’s Word began as a child, grew as a teenager, increased as a young adult, and has now become a full-blown love affair the older I’ve aged.  This has happened as I’ve learned to apply certain “practices.” Let me share a some thoughts on two of them.   

Practice #1:  Look at the Word as God’s love letter to you. 

When my husband John and I were in college and dating, we spent two summers apart.  Since that was long before cell phones and e-mails, we wrote letters to one another.  When I received one of those letters from John, I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  I learned more about who John was. I came to understand him better, and I fell more in love with him as I read them.         

Do you realize that God’s Word is His love letter to His children?  It’s His primary means of helping His children come to know Him and understand Him better.  When we read the Bible from that perspective, it becomes more fascinating and wonderful to us. The Bible is His love letter written for His people. Approach the Bible in this way and see if it doesn’t mean more to you.

Practice #2:  Read the Bible until it speaks to you. Then stop and talk to the Lord about what you heard.

I was 27 years old when I first began to use this practice in my Bible study.  Someone told me that God wanted to speak to me every time I opened my Bible, so I should read it until He spoke and then talk to Him about it–just as I would talk to any best friend.  One day I opened my Bible to Philippians 1 and said, “Lord, I’m going to stay here until you speak–even if it takes all day!”  Then I read, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus” and it was as if the word “servants” jumped off the page at me!  I began talking to the Lord about what it meant to be a servant and began addressing issues in my life that prevented me from living like His servant.  Hours passed as I continued on in Philippians 1.  I was amazed at the relevancy of the Scriptures when I approached the Bible this way!  It revolutionized my Bible study–and my life. 

Years later I read the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian, which affirmed this practice.  He wrote, “I ask with all my heart what God is trying to say to us through the Bible…since I have learned to read the Bible this way it has become more dear to me every day.” Even my favorite Christian author, A.W. Tozer, confirmed this practice when he wrote, “If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you.” 

To read the Bible until it speaks means that sometimes you might read a word, as I did so many years ago. Sometimes you might read a sentence, or a paragraph, or an entire chapter.  The amount doesn’t matter; what does matter is that you read until the Spirit of God speaks into your heart and mind. You might read something that captures your attention, evokes praise in you, warms your heart, brings you comfort, nudges you to change or stirs you to pray for others.

The Key

The key to this practice is to stop when the Lord has spoken to you and talk to Him about it.  This develops relationship with Him and you begin to approach the Bible as if it truly is written by your best friend and Savior.  You’ll find yourself eager to open His word, anxiously anticipating what He may say to you next.  

The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” God’s Word still speaks.  May we open our minds and hearts that He can change us through the living and enduring Word. (I Peter 1:23).