How do you read it?

You may not read it. I read it, and have read it and will continue to read it but now my reading has changed. Do you read the bible? Take a moment and ask yourself HOW do you read it and WHY do you read it.

As I shared with you, I’m taking on the challenge to memorize the book of James. I believe I also told you it would cause problems of many kinds and sure enough it has.

First of all, James 1:4 says Let perseverance finish its work…. How long does that take? Thats a blog all in its own but seriously…perseverance falls into the category of patience and I believe the finishing of that ‘work’ is gonna take some time. Now apparently according to this verse, perseverance brings maturity and completeness. I’m all for that, I’m all for the not lacking anything, but seriously how long will it take for perseverance to finish its work! Get to work perseverance!

But I digress…here is what really happened that caused the problem in my life. I was going about my business memorizing James. I’ve got James 1:1-5 down:) As I’m doing my memory work, I realize I’m actually reading the bible. Does that make sense?

I’ve read the bible for sometime now, usually on a daily basis. I’ve studied it and I’ve wrote about it and I’ve read it, over and over and over again. Its a good little book and the words are indeed alive and active. They blow my mind. But if you haven’t ever read the scripture to put it to MEMORY then I challenge you to say you haven’t really READ the bible and you are missing out. I’m not saying you have to memorize the scripture to prove you’ve read it but read it as though you must put it to memory and see if it tips your world a little bit.

Turns out,  in order to memorize the Word, you need to KNOW the word and I mean really know it. You can’t just put it to memory like a phone number, you really have to know what your saying and almost adopt the mind of the author. It changes the whole dynamic of the verse and sucks you into the words. This is a good thing right?!

Sure it is but it will change the way you read every other verse. I have been content to just read my allotted verses and go about my business. I usually respond with ‘that’s a good verse’ or ‘I’ll hold onto that one’. But now that I’ve decided to put the Letter James wrote to memory, I actually read the words to understand them and to know them and to love them like my own. I wonder how this will play out in my future. I’m pretty sure this is all part of perseverance’s plan to finish its work.

So, I challenge you pick a verse, start with James…and really READ it. See if it becomes more then just a good verse for you, see if it becomes even more alive and then see if it changes your desire to really read it. Maybe together we’ll allow perseverance to finish its work and then maturity will come and completeness. Completeness…what does that look like? See…its a slippery slope….