Turn My Eyes Into Ears
Dear Friends and Family of Hilton Baptist Church,
Every year a member of our church creates and shares a Bible reading plan with us. This plan allows us to read through the entire New Testament in one year.
I have been reading a daily devotional entitled “The Blue Book” by Jim Branch. One entry in particular made me think of the New Testament selections we have been encouraged to read each day. I’d like to share this entry with you as I think it offers a helpful reminder when reading the Bible.
“In our culture, from our early days on, we are trained to read in a certain way. It starts in grade school and goes all the way through our college years. Simply put, we are taught to read for information. There is much material to be learned, and we are bound and determined to learn it. Our grades depend on it. So we read as much as we can, as fast as we can, in order to master whatever material may be in front of us. We study and we analyze. We read with a critical eye, with our text as the subject.
It is a good thing, this kind of reading, but when it comes to the Scriptures we need to know that there is another way. When we read the Scriptures we must learn how to read with a different set of eyes. Or, as Eugene Peterson likes to say ‘we must turn our eyes into ears.’ For it is through the Scriptures that God reveals himself, and his heart, to us. The Scriptures are not just some sterile, impersonal mass of material, they are an incredibly beautiful love letter written to us from our God.
I don’t know about you, but when I get a letter from someone that is dear to me, I do not read it like I would read a text book. I take that letter to a quiet place, where I will not be interrupted, and I read every single line, every single word. As a matter of fact, I read between the lines. I read it slowly, stopping from time to time to consider the depths of what I’ve just read. I savor it and try to enjoy every single bit of it. I read it in a way that allows me to hear the voice of the one I love and through the text. And when I am finished reading it, I read it again, and again. I read it not for information, but for formation; not to work on the text, but to let the text work on me.
I do this because of the love of the one who wrote it. I want to fully know that love. I want to be captured by that love. I want to hear and experience every bit of that love and affection. So it is for each of us when we read the Word of God. It is God’s letter of love and affection to each of us, meant to capture and hearts and kindle our affections.” 1
This entry was a good reminder for me to ‘turn my eyes into ears’ when reading my Bible. I hope you found this has helpful as I did.
Be Still,
Dan
1 Branch, Jim. The Blue Book. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Monee, Il. Pgs. 43-44.
Categories: Pastors Message