Reflection #1

My sweet roommate Bekah asked me the other night what I have been learning from my time studying the Bible this year. It was really the first time I have stopped to think about what the experience is teaching me overall, instead of just focusing on what I am learning chapter by chapter. I am into the book of Joshua now (Goodbye Moses... I still think it's a little sad that you didn't get to enter into the Promised Land, but I understand the reason why now thanks to ESV footnotes!), but I will blog about crazy war stories and the conquering of Canaan later.

My Bible Study is currently reading Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline together. Each week we read a chapter on a specific discipline and try to practice it together or share with each other our personal attempts to become more disciplined followers of Christ. The chapter on the discipline of study was particulary convicting, as I usually just read the Bible to read it, and don't spend a lot of time and effort STUDYING it. My journey through the ESV Study Bible is my humble attempt to add the discipline of study to my life. It is laughable to me now that I thought I would be reading through the Bible twice this year (ESV version in the morning with footnotes and re-reading the New Living Translation at night for a time of reflection). I honestly struggle to get my reading done once a day. By the grace of God, I have mangaged to stay on the timeline for the most part, but I often find that I have to split the reading into two halves and read a chapter or two at school or in the evening in addition to my morning reading time. Maybe someday I will attempt the twice in a year reading goal, but I will need a whole lotta Holy Spirit power to manage it. For now I simply feel challenged by the extra reading time going through the notes. So, for one, it's been awesome to study in addition to simply reading the Word, especially when I've had a few things I've learned come up in conversation recently and I've been able to discuss and share God's Word more accurately and deeply.

However, the best thing about the experience so far has been the blogging part. Again, this has been another dose of humility as my goal is to blog once a week, and I am struggling to write even every other week at this point. The point of the blog is simply to hold me accountable for reflecting and applying what I am learning from God's Word. How often do I take the gift of God's precious Word for granted, both by my unwillingness to spend the time studying it, and also by failing to soak in it, to reflect on it, and apply it to my life? This blog is my public way of holding myself accountable for reflecting and applying what I read. I explained to Bekah that the coolest part is that this blog is so different from my own personal journaling where I rant and rave all about me, me, me - my concerns, my problems, and, albeit too rarely, my praises. On a good day, I apply a verse to my problems or reflect on God's promises as I pray. Going through the Bible and knowing that I have to blog about it has forced me to change my thinking. I am reading, learning, and writing about God and His Word, and I have the privilege of seeing how it applies to my life... how it convicts me... how it should change me to be more like Christ. So instead of focusing on myself and then applying the tiniest fraction of God's Word to my circumstances, I get to dwell on God's truth, His character, and His Promises and see how they play out in my life and my heart in so many ways, because God has given me the gift of His living, active Word (Hebrews 4:12). Thanks for asking Bekah... you made me stop and think, which is one of the main reasons I am on this adventure in the first place!