Pressing the Issue

Pressing the Issue

RAPID

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

There is a relationship between reading and studying, but there are also important and necessary differences. We should establish an everyday habit of reading the scriptures; however, reading without study offers an unbalanced diet…too much milk, too little meat.

Merely reading the scriptures, without study, will never provide an understanding and a subsequent application of what the scriptures teach. After learning what the scriptures say by reading them, one must learn what the scriptures teach by studying them.

Study is demanding and it requires time; hence, you have to slow your pace and then stop when a particular word or passage demands further exploration. That is the reason why those who are on a set schedule to fulfill some abstract quota, either of their own making or by following someone else’s reading plan…avoid the process of slowing down, stopping and studying.

An elderly man, after being incarcerated for 40 years, was finally paroled. As he attempted to cross a city street several cars almost ran him down. At the time he was first imprisoned he had only seen just one car, but now, they were everywhere. He said to himself, “The whole world has gotten itself into one big hurry.” The same can be said of Christians who, instead of walking through the scriptures, are running through them.

 

Hardly a day passes that I don’t hear of someone boasting about their devotional reading plan and how many verses they read that day. They pride themselves on how many times they have read through the scriptures from cover to cover. Regrettably, what they fail to understand is that it is only important how many times the Word of God has been through them and not how many times they have been through the Word of God. Like the cowboy who carved notches on the handle of his gun to impress others, in the final analysis, it did not make him a skilled gunfighter. Routine reading will familiarize you with the scriptures, but it requires study to transform your life.

Over the years I have known many who have read through the scriptures more than one hundred times. One was a preacher who takes legalism to the extreme. Another is one who can’t preach one message without injecting personal and vehement criticism. One was even the wife of a pastor, who after 20 years of marriage came home afternoon, packed some clothes, left their home and later filed for divorce.

Thankfully, such are not cases of many who are rapid readers. The point I am trying to make is that doing things in a hurry is not always the best course of action. If you gulp your food, you might end up with indigestion. Just as in the physical realm we are to eat slowly to promote proper digestion…the same holds true in the scope of our spiritual health.

The scriptures tell us that believers read the Word of God daily, but you will not find one verse that gives an instruction on how many times we are to read it through from cover to cover.

SETBACK

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

A dictionary definition of the word “setback” is: “something that reverses or delays the progress of somebody or something.” No person, regardless of their spiritual composition, is exempt from the trials and tribulations, monumental or mundane, which daily come our way. Delays and/or reversals are a part of life. Hiding your head in the sand, trying to wish them away or attempting numb them from remembrance…will not defeat them. They must be faced if we are to move forward. Setbacks are to be acknowledged, mused upon, prayed over and thought through. Afterwards, right and proper action must take place.

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

There are numerous causes for delays and/or reversals in our lives. God sends them to chastise us; our enemies, to discourage us; the devil, to defeat us. The good news is that a setback does not mean you cannot comeback. There are times when one step backward can take us two steps forward. I know it sounds contradictory, but sometimes presumably lost ground can propel us forward. The story of the prodigal son attests to this fact.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Wow! The burden became a barbeque. The misery became merriment. The setback became a sumptuous meal. That which was lost…is found.

The prodigal son’s one step backward was: he wasted his substance with riotous living. His two steps forward were: I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.

Although it may be both embarrassing and humbling to experience a setback; it is always possible to emerge from any delay and/or reversal and become all the wiser.