Steeping in the Scriptures

One of my closest friends shared a post earlier with me concerning how many pastors and leaders in churches tend to rehash old sermons and thoughts that they have had scribbled in their notes for years without revisiting the Scriptures sited and current applications.

Many lay persons, including me, do much the same. We live day in, day out applying principles learned months or years before, complacent in our practice. While I can't really authoritatively label this a sin, it is certainly a shame. God states that the Bible is the "Living Word" and that Christ is the Word (Jn. 1:1). I take this to mean that each time we look to Scripture for guidance we can apply it anew to the situation. Problem is many of us, particularly me, forget this and struggle needlessly to apply old solutions to new problems.

I know a few people who reach deep into Scripture. They have a certain peace and wisdom about them that can only come from God. There are others that may not reach as deeply, but they reach often and gain new knowledge for each new situation. They also possess a calmness, and eagerness for God's word. I know some dabblers as well, in fact many, many people I know may fall into this category. Actually, I think most of us dabble in the Scriptures from time to time applying what we want and kind of looking away from those things we don't want to deal with at that point.

Let's think about a tea bag and its uses. If a person buys a tea bag and never opens it, and never uses it for its purpose, they will never get tea from it. It won't help them grown strong, stay awake, and it won't really be anything to them. If that person takes the tea bag, opens it and kind of dabbles and dips it into water, they will get tea perhaps, but it will be very weak, and they may not feel like they've had any tea at all. Next we have a tea drinker that doesn't have time to let that bag steep for long, but they go back for another bag, and another, and another each time they want a cup of tea. It might not be super strong, but it is a steady supply of their favorite drink. Finally, we have the super steeper. They use the hottest of water, and the longest of time to steep that bag of tea.The tea bag gives all of its flavor to the tea, and the drinker savors the experience and plans to make the next cup the same and looks looks forward to yet another cup.

In our country, we have Bibles everywhere. We can stack them up. Download them. Upload favorite passages and toss about common stories that most people can at least reference, if not recite. But if those Bibles are never used, they might as well be doorstops, or computer glitches. If we reference Scripture only in stories, and give a nod to the literary value of a historic book, we have little or no knowledge of its power. Growth begins when we look often to the Living Word for wisdom and strength, even if we cannot spend hours at a time in its pages. We are still tapping the resource God gave us, and we will consistently be led by its words.

Finally, when we have the chance, we should steep ourselves in Scripture. Pastors, preachers, and counselors should always do this before sharing with others. Lay people should do it whenever they have the chance. God's word is rich and deep and living. He gave it to us in such a way that we can apply its principles in one way to our lives now, and in the future apply them again in a new way revealed to us as God sees our need. If more Christian leaders, and more Christians steeped in the Scripture, our churches would be stronger. Our testimonies would remain untarnished. It's hard for me to believe that a Christian steeped in the Scripture could have an affair, abuse another person, or willfully sin without immediate and fierce remorse.

Lord, I pray that you will call all of us to steep ourselves in your Word. Help us to bring our leaders and fellow Christians before your throne in prayer. Thank you for your Living Word. Thank you for grace. Thank you for your Son. Please bring reminders to our hearts and souls that you have provided the strength to go through trials, and answers to our questions through the Best of Books.

Trying to steep and not dabble,
Teapotjan