Digging Deeper

Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses… - Luke 14:18

I was in the U.S. Army for six years. During this time I served in the Gulf War. I remember receiving letters and care packages from home. Each letter and news clipping you received became a link to the home that you missed so much. I would read and re-read everything I got so many times I could imagine I was actually there and I would long for that next piece of mail to help add to the mental picture I had of home.

I like to use this mental imaging in my reading especially when it comes to the Bible. I get lost in the words and imagine I’m actually there standing in awe as David slays Goliath with only a sling and stone! Or fighting beside him and his mighty men or that I’m one of the five thousand that Jesus feeds with only five loaves of bread and two fish. And on occasion I have imagined that I am there as a witness when they raise Him on a cross. When I have the time I like to read and re-read God’s word until I feel that I am right there. Unfortunately, “when I have the time” always seems to be the problem. We like to say “life” sometimes gets in the way of the things we would like to do. “I wish I had the time to read the Bible more but <insert excuse here>.” or “I’ll really dig deeper and study it when <this> is over or after <that>.” But didn’t God give us the “life” we are using as an excuse? And doesn’t He bless us with the very time we have in each and every day that we mismanage? Shouldn’t studying His word be pretty near the top of the list? Not just reading but actually studying The Word. I like to use the word glean. Glean is defined as: to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly. That’s how we should study God’s word, little by little or slowly! You can’t just read or skim through it like it’s the sports scores. You must GLEAN it to truly get out of the word what God wants you to.

Wow, now that I’ve convicted myself, at least, I leave you with the following prayer and I’m going to get back to the desert with Moses in his final days and see what I can “glean”.

Lord, forgive us for falling into the trap of our society of multi-tasking and believing that faster is better. Father, I will slow down as I read and study Your Word. I will glean from it every drop that it has to offer and apply it to my life, that You gave me, and use that as an example to others so that they might become curious and choose to explore for themselves who and what You are. Amen

by Rick Phillips