Filled to the brim ...

“It is not that you will think about what you have read, but you will feed upon what you have read. Out of a love for the Lord you exert your will to hold your mind quiet before him. In this peaceful state, swallow what you have tasted … take in what is there as nourishment.”
Jeanne Guyon

“I am sitting here after a wonderful meal and I feel so stuffed full of food. I feel like I could not eat another bite. It has become so bad that I have to loosen my belt just so I can breathe, or maybe I loosen my belt so I can make room for more.”

How often have you heard someone say something like this? Usually this happens around holidays where the family is all together with a huge variety of different foods. Ashamedly I have been one of the people who have said this phrase. What if we said that same thing about our spiritual time of study? If you think about it, the same could be true. We just finish a time of digging into the Word and we feel like we are filled to the brim with knowledge and questions all at the same time. The only difference is that we can take more and more bites from this spiritual food. We need to take bigger and bigger bites and sometimes we just need to sit there and chew on them for a while. That is how the study life should be for us all. During one of our class times I mentioned four key words in the life of a Bible Student: Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection.

The more time you spend in study and digging through scriptures, the more you will want to do it again. It becomes addictive. The problem though, is so many of us never take that first step in making the effort to set aside time to be in the Word. The chewing on the Word is so important as well, because sometimes you just need to take one verse and go over it again and again to understand it. After the understanding, you start realizing what it truly means and you apply it to your life. When you can bring yourself into the story or the situation, you have allowed God to open up a whole new world for your spiritual walk.

If your study life seems like it needs a boost, or feels non-existent, then take this moment to say, “Today, I begin again, and I will be with my Lord!” Let me leave you with some words from the Word, that you can chew on today.

"So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins."
Luke 6:46-49

Jason