Hiding God’s Word in Our Heart
Hiding God’s Word In Our Heart
When I first became a Christian, the people who discipled me encouraged me to begin memorizing verses of Scripture. One of the first verses I memorized highlights the value of this practice. “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9,11). Memorizing God’s word has made the Bible a substantial part of my life, as the word has taken root in my heart and mind. Another memory verse that has structured my thinking is: “Blessed is the one who dos not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of the mockers, but whose delight is the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).
In his book, After I Believe, James Emory White has this to say about how we apply the Bible to our lives:
The Hebrew word for meditate means to mutter or mumble, to make a low sound. It was the habit of people reflecting on the scriptures to turn the words and meanings over and over again in their minds. And they did this by repeating the words to themselves, often in a whisper that sounded like mumbling.
The point is not to verbally repeat the words out loud but to reflect upon them so that they penetrate the depths of your heart. I am reminded of an old story of a very learned man who came to visit a rabbi. The scholar was close to thirty but had never visited a rabbi before. “What have you done all of your life,” the rabbi asked him.
“I have gone through the whole of the Talmud three times,” the learned man answered. “Yes,” the rabbi said, “but how much of the Talmud has gone through you?”
That is the key to all Bible reading – not how many times you have gone through the Bible, but how many times the Bible has gone through you.
The Bible is not difficult to read or to understand. It is difficult to follow through on what it says because we resist its leadership in so many ways. So, if I may, the following are several ways any of us may seek to circumvent its teachings.
1. The Cosmic Exception Clause – Most are familiar with exception clauses. This kind of clause is given when there is a clear way around an otherwise straight-forward-rule – a time, place, or situation when the rule doesn’t apply. Some people want to have exception clauses with the Bible. They know what it means to apply what it says, but they think to themselves, “In my case, and in my situation, it doesn’t apply. I’m unique/special/one of a kind, and my circumstances allow me to bypass this one. This is a way of placing ourselves above God’s authority. Our assessment trumps what God has to say.
“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in them, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” – 1 John 2:4-6
2. The Food Bar – This approach to God’s word is similar to treating the Bible as a buffet. Some things you like and some things you do not care for. So, what will end up on your plate? – Things you hate? Not likely. We pile our plates high with things that go down easy. If we treat the Bible this way, we will end up only using the Bible to affirm what we already believe and to encourage us in what we were already inclined to do. Those portions of the Bible that were most likely to challenge us and be a catalyst for our spiritual growth will have been safely ignored. This is not the not the same thing as applying God’s word to our lives. This is really about using our own life as a standard by which to measure the worth of the Bible.
3. The Great Compromise – We compromise the integrity of the Bible and water down its teachings by denying that it says what it actually says. We do this because we do not like what it says. But this is the same as rebelling against God. We do not want to surrender our life to God. We do not want to live under the Lordship of Christ. But the Bible confronts us in our sins. We either welcome this confrontation or fight it.
“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:11-13
This means you can read the Bible one of two ways. You can read it with a surrendered heart, where with every page you read, you ask, “What attitude, thought, or behavior do I need to change? What do I need to start doing or stop doing? What relationships do I need to work on? In what ways do I need to be serving God and other people?” Or, you can read it with a defensive, rebellious spirit that fights God’s work in your life.
Another way we can make this compromise is by acting as if we can’t be sure that it means what it says. Imagine a teenage girl is told that she may go to the high school dance but that she has to be home by 10:00 p.m. Just before her curfew, she says, “Maybe dad did not mean I had to be home by ten, only that I had to be on the way home. But, by home, did he mean that I had to be in the house? Maybe being in the yard or on the porch counts as being home. And there are other time zones beside our time zone. Perhaps it still counts, so long as I make it home by 10:00 p.m. in any time zone. Maybe being at my dates home counts as obedience. After all, dad didn’t specify which home.” The rationalizing goes on until we have finally dismantled the clear command.
The purpose of reading the scripture is to listen for God’s voice and to act in faith obedience to what it says. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27