Raised in Sunday School and church, I began reading through the Bible each year. I remember checking the little square boxes as I completed the chapters. Later I added intermittent journaling of interesting thoughts I read. I found practicing this habit enabled me to experience a greater satisfaction with God; it became my spiritual security blanket. To be candid, it was so comforting I was afraid if I ever stopped doing it, I would fall spiritually as other notable ministers had done.
In my time with God about 15 years ago, a few of David’s words captured my attention. Psalm 9:10 (NLT) Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you. I intuitively sensed God had an important truth here for me. It was the words those who know your name trust in you… that gripped me. I trusted God, but not as much as I would like. This confused me because it didn’t appear to say how to trust more. Then it dawned on me. The ‘how to’ was in that verse! My investment in knowing God more fully would automatically result in greater trust. He was inviting me to take the initiative to seek to know more about who He was; not just His title, gifts, or what He said or did. Wow!! My hunger to know God more deeply became greater than my fear of falling away from Him. I took the leap, stopped my routine Bible reading and obeyed His gentle whisper to trust Him to keep me close to Him.
I found this principle to be true. If I wanted more of God, I must give Him more of myself. I saw that as a bargain, so I gladly gave Him more of me. I felt an urgency to discover what a passage was telling me about who God is; His character, values, ways and whatever else it might reveal about Him. These revelations then humbled me, forcing me to acknowledge my total depravity and what I needed to do in response to these findings. To my delight and amazement, I discovered my investment resulted in a deeper love for God and His Word—greater than I could have imagined. Plus, I found myself trusting Him in more practical ways, just as the verse promised. It so affected me it appeared I had been born again!!
A Biblical example of this principle was when God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 to… subdue [the earth]; and have dominion over [it]. He didn’t just give them dominion. They had to first invest personal initiative and struggle to subdue it, but it was worth it. Then they had to maintain dominion over it. A similar example is when He engaged the Hebrews in the process of learning to know God as God Almighty. Exodus 10:1-2 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.” Fascinating! Through passage like these, I could see the critical importance of habitually investing myself in seeking to know Him more personally.
My regular reading of the Bible had been vital! It had taught me the balancing essentials I needed to reduce my chances of misinterpreting what I read. However, I had only skimmed the surface issues of what He said and did, totally missing His ways, values, or character. Life-change has continued to come as I spend time prayerfully meditating on exactly what His Word says. His Spirit frequently responds by revealing more of who God is and His heart, not just what He did/does or doesn’t do. I share this with you, praying that it may inspire you to slow your Bible reading way down and embark on a quest to know the author in a more personal way. If you would like support in how to do this, let me know and I will do my best to share what I’ve learned about this quest. My sole desire is for you to know Him more intimately as I’m learning to do.