II Timothy 2:7 (NIV)
Reflect on what I
am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this
Psalm 119:18 (NIV)
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your
law
These two verses are keys to the devotional method
of Bible study where you start by asking the Lord to help you approach your
time in the Bible with humility, reverence and expectation and then you spend
time meditating (“reflecting”) on what the Bible says to you.
What happens if you pray for the Lord to “open your
eyes that you may see wonderful things in your law*”? Not only seeing/discovering new truths from
His Word, but also reflecting/meditating on His words and their meaning and
what insights they give to you? Here are a few examples:
·
I
Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Does a verse like this start to free you from
the pursuit of money at the expense of time pursuing other godly things? Your meditation over this verse might
significantly rearrange the priorities of your life.
·
Verses
like Hebrews 13:5-6 are not only related to I Timothy 6:10 and being free from
the love of money, but also say that God will never desert or forsake you and
you must not be afraid of any other human.
Thinking carefully about these truths, especially combined with
Philippians 4:13, how might your life take on new meaning and/or how are you
strengthened to face what you are facing?
·
The
obscure prayer of Jabez in I Chronicles 4:10……..this is an example of one man
making one prayer request and God granting him that request. How might meditating over this verse (and
others that speak of God fulfilling His promises) deepen your faith in facing
certain problems in your life?
·
Open
your eyes and meditate over the Psalms that bring great strength and
comfort. For example, who can read Psalm
23 or Psalm 34:15-18 or Psalm 94:19 or Psalm 103:1-5 or Psalm 139:23-24 or
hundreds of other verses and not be uplifted, encour-aged, and better resolved
to be a better person with the time remaining in your life?
·
Philippians
4:6-7 can be read over and over and over and meditated upon for hours and still
not know all the depth of promise and truth that are contained in these two
verses. The same could be said for
hundreds of others.
·
Proverbs
3, Matthew 5, John 14, Ephesians 6, Hebrews 11, James 1, and the list goes on
and on what wonderfully exciting things can happen when you pray, study, and
meditate over God’s Word.
Hundreds……thousands of other examples could be given
for how God’s Word can be applied in quality study time to fulfill what the
Lord intends for His Word to do to us if we only give Him time and energy. If you give Him quality study time, His Word
will accomplish great things that you cannot even imagine (Isaiah 55:11-12).
*The word for law in the Hebrew is “Torah”, meaning a precept or statute. Generally it means the whole Word of God, the
whole Bible.
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