Devotional Reading (2)

 

 

In the previous post I quoted Charles F. Whiston on devotional reading. Now I want to drop back and interact with that extended quote. Whiston writes:

 

“But in devotional reading our whole being (not only our intellects) must be quieted; and made open, receptive, expectant; and above all else, humble. It is not so much the work of the intellect as the attentive receptiveness of the whole man.  Any spirit set upon ferreting out the hidden mysteries of God will result in total failure.  Humility will accomplish what cleverness and pride cannot accomplish.”

 

I want to distinguish between two types of devotional reading, reading the Bible and reading other material – there is, or at least there should be, distinguishing features between the two; while there are similarities, there are also differences.

 

When we are reading the Bible we do not have to vet what we are reading, that is, we do not have to ask, “Is this true?” When we read God’s statements about Himself or about creation or mankind, we know that they are absolutely true and can accept them without reservation. For sure it may require a lifetime to grow in our understanding of what God says, and we will need to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us to enlightened our understanding of God’s Word, but we can be assured that what God says is always true and can be trusted – we need not vet what God says…God’s Word judges us, we do not judge God’s Word.

 

However, this is not the case with what you are reading right now, it is not the case with what I am writing or with what anyone else has written or will write; it is not the case with what anyone else has said, is saying, or will say. The Bible holds a unique place on earth and among mankind as the infallible Word of God. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the inbreathing of God’s Spirit in the men God used to write the Bible is unique in time and space. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit does not inspire men and women with holy words and Divine insight, it is not to say that the Holy Spirit does not draw us into God’s Presence through the service of other members of the Body of Christ; it is to say that the Bible is unique and beyond all else is the Divine Word and Self-disclosure.

 

And so, no matter how high and holy the words of others may be, no matter what the glory of the Word, the manifestation of God, through others may be…all must be vetted by and through the Scriptures, through God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible. Therefore, our posture in devotional reading must of necessity be different when reading the Bible than when reading other writings. When Christ speaks through His Body, and He most certainty does – He will always provide us with an “Amen”, a corresponding witness, in Scripture.

 

We find then that our intellect is engaged critically in devotional reading outside the Bible, in the particular sense that we filter what we read through the Bible, we vet what we read. We also approach the Bible as the Word of God, as God’s Word to be received and obeyed – there are no other writings that are on this plane. Godly devotional writings will always point us to Christ and lead us to His Word – we can be sure of this, and in fact this is a good test of whether what we are reading ought to be read devotionally – for our devotion ought to always be centered on and directed to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Whiston writes that we “must be quieted; and made open, receptive, expectant; and above all else, humble.”

 

The Psalmist writes, “I wait for Yahweh, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.” (Psalms 130:6 – 7).

 

Watchmen wait and watch; they watch and wait. If we are devoted to Christ we will learn to watch and wait on Him, to wait and watch for Him.

 

In Psalm 131:2 - 3 we read, “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in Yahweh from this time forth and forever."

 

We live in a world of noise and distraction – noise, noise, noise! Our attention spans have shriveled into virtually nothing; we cannot sustain thoughts or conversation, we cannot sit still. Sadly, many “Christian” leaders and publishers cater to our immaturity by encouraging us to sign up for texts and emails that give us a Scripture for the day, a short “devotional” that we can digest in a few seconds, a thought for the day. We look at the Bible as a daily vitamin, let’s swallow our daily recommended dosage and move on with our day. This practice and mentality ensure our regression into infancy – when we should be adults we are crawling along the floor in diapers – what a picture we must present to the angels.

 

Our eyes ought to ever and always be on Jesus Christ, our ears open to Him and His Word.

 

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to Yahweh our God, until He is gracious to us.” (Psalm 123:2).

 

In devotional reading our souls are to be weaned and quieted from the world and its noise and demands, and our eyes are to be watching and expecting to see and hear from Jesus Christ – for He deeply desires to make Himself known to us. Jesus gives us His Word, through the Bible and through others [an uppercase “W” and a lowercase “w” if that helps], to draw us into koinonia with Himself and the communion of saints.

 

The writer of Hebrews tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6).

 

We are to expect God to draw us into relationship with Himself as we approach Him, and as we wait for Him, in prayer and in His Word – His Word especially given in the Bible, but also as it is given through the Body of Christ flowing from the Bible.

 

We’ll continue looking at this quote from Whiston in the next post, but I want to say that words seem inadequate when writing about devotional reading, about the Word of God in the Bible and in us – there is a transcendence that surpasses our vocabulary, a glory that envelopes our minds and hearts – God has given us a door standing open in heaven (Rev. 4:1) and we don’t see it – we are content to live on earth. This is akin to the mystery of the Incarnation, of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us and of us beholding His glory (John 1:14 – 18).

 

O dear friends, can we not see the destruction of language all around us, both within and without the professing church? This is the destruction of that wonderful and beautiful gift of God to man, made in His image – the image of the Word. Christ came to restore Himself in us, to restore His Word and to grow His Word…and we are engaged in destroying that which He came to restore…and we have no idea what we are doing, we are the agents of our own destruction.

 

Let us be devoted to Jesus Christ. Let us be devoted to the Word of the Way, and to the Way of His Word.