Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.
Episode 5. Honoring God’s Word – Read Less, Reflect More
Hello human.
(click here to listen)
I record Episode 5 with gratitude for the connections I have made with those I know, and those I don’t. Because of BUOY. I wouldn’t be on my 99journey if I didn’t believe in the power of God to illuminate our lives when we share our witness. As we swim. I want to hear from you: Rate, review the show, reach out to me at kathrynbise.com. Share your BUOY link with others.
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I have always been ambitious about information. Let me explain. I feel responsible for it. Organizing and prioritizing it for future use. I am easily driven by my own need to know it, manage it, own it. To discover the bottom line, the succinct summary, to take captive even the most entertaining moment when my goal should be relaxing, unwinding… by identifying the best line in a film. The best soundbite, the most powerful sentence. Always finding some way of climbing the Everest of Information and planting my flag on the summit.
This is clearly a second resolution for my cerebral soup, my initial thoughts now that I will return to in episode 13, a few days from January 1, 2023.
My bottom line is that I have approached so much in life as if I will need to write a book report about it. That I will be graded on content, creative delivery and voice projection. I learned early in my childhood that book reports had a value beyond a high mark from Mrs. Edigar in third grade. Book reports gave me yet another reason to read. To escape. To show mastery of what I had discovered.
I know, many humans have sustained a lifelong cringe at the thought of a book report, more so, cringe at the prospect of any substantial reading (with chapters), and even more so, cringe at any homework that requires demonstration of “hey, I got it” thinking.
Honoring the Power of God’s Word
So it is no wonder that we would feel any different about the Bible. And for those of us who read, and do so naturally with little effort, returning to the same book over and over again—even in its stature amongst the classics—requires an act of spiritual congress, or more realistically, a paradigm shift of the heart.
And hey, books aren’t going anywhere. According to the Google Book Project, there are nearly 130 million books in the world.
I stand up for books. And book reports. And the Bible. Over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away for free every year in the world, according to The Economist. The Bible is the most widely distributed and best-selling book in the world.
Because the Bible is different than all the other books published and to be written.
How so? Not sure how to answer that, but…
- We are advised to read it over and over again. For our entire earthly life.
- It has a foregone conclusion.
- The journey of God’s chosen nation is in this book.
- God’s voice is in this book.
- Jesus’ life is in this book.
- Paul’s conversion is in this book.
- And the lives and God encounters of so many more sandal-wearing men and woman who were seekers. Like us.
The Holy Spirit is in this book, which makes it the best read ever.
Because my story, your story, is in this book.
The Bible is an amazing read. And my witness is the book report.
One day, a rare day several decades ago when I had come home early from work, our youngest son burst through the front door, running into the kitchen. He had something he couldn’t wait to tell me. He said,
“Mom, the teacher said I did my book report WITH EXPRESSION.”
My son does not remember which book he had read, but my joy came from his littler version of joy.
What book does that?
Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
It’s true. My soul waits for Jesus to return. But how I redeem His goodness, His glory in my life is in what He tells me in His Word. In that Bible on my kitchen island.
So how do I honor the power of God’s word? I have approached how I read my Bible in different ways during my life. For one season I would read a passage based on how I was feeling at the moment, then wait to see how God revealed its meaning during the day. Likewise, I have read by chapter, by book, by topic, by human author, by gender, by timeline, by random selection. And there are countless suggestions, courses, approaches available online that are worthy of your consideration.
Our Culture Encourages Binging
But what I had to personally come to grips with was binging on scripture. Not in a good way, not in a reverent way. But in an excessive way, like stocking up on water, or toilet paper, to be ready in the event of a crisis. To deepen the moat around my sin nature, to fortify my heart walls. A controlling way, to provide the bottom line, to yield some type of authority over it as I searched for a deeper understanding of God’s Word.
I am coming to a place where I accept that reading the Bible is not about mastering information, becoming a Biblical scholar, or reading so much that God would choose me to join Enoch and Elijah. Look up what happened to them later.
I am coming to a place, a realization that I only need one thing to show for reading God’s Word. My witness.
This is a new, redeeming place. Reading to honor and reflect on God’s presence and power in my life, to evolve my spiritual nature beyond what I can memorize, define or organize.
Less is Enough
Less is enough. I doubt it is a surprise to hear that I swim toward scripture binges—defined as reading in excess, so much so, that a verse, a chapter spills over into another, and yet another in a way that leaves no space for divine understanding. No room for growing to happen.
Here is how I am changing that:
By not listening to several Biblical messages in a row. Just listening to one human speaking God’s truth at a time. Not two in a row. Not layer upon layer. It’s pretty simple.
I also no longer pursue the ultimate bottom line in scripture. The holiest soundbite. When scripture over scripture is laid down, my brain stalls, and my heart starts spinning. I get anxious. I begin to have control issues, organizational needs, to bring it all into alignment with each other, in essence rewrite the Bible. That’s ludicrous to think about. Impossible. I am surprised I am saying it out loud.
Yet I think it is human nature to want to project our understanding of God’s Word as a power play on each other. To Master the Master’s story. There’s arrogance in that. Rooted in anxiety.
Returning to Hear His Voice Again
So, in the spirit of “less is enough”, I seek to honor His Word by returning to Him first, to hear Him say it again. I have made a commitment to return to what I hear or read in the scripture. The inner guide Jesus placed in my heart—the Holy Spirit—lights my path of reflection. My heart commits to remembering, beyond memorizing what is said, where it is said, and by whom. This simple process has been amazing for me. Research bears out the power of reflection. When applied to God’s Word, it’s a spiritual tsunami, in a good way.
It goes like this: On Monday I revisit the Pastor’s Sunday message to read and reflect on how it will impact my witness. I do this to honor the divine work God has done in his life to bring the message to me. My group discussion readings, I do the same, twice. Sometimes returning before the discussion, sometimes after. Sometimes both.
Same with my personal scripture reading; read, give it a day or two, then honor it by returning to reflect.
Making this commitment to honor God’s Word with reflection assures I will tend to my choices with much greater spiritual care. Who I listen to, what I read. Because I am going to double down on my investment, twice my time to honor God’s Word, by returning and reflecting on His Voice in my life, again.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul says:
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
It is Enough. Two Fish. Five Loaves.
I accept that what God is putting in front of me, whether a conversation with someone, the message from a spiritual leader in my life, the scriptures I use for this podcast, and so on, is enough. It is two fish, and five loaves of bread. Enough to move forward in God’s love. With 12 baskets left for sharing with my tribe, my mission field, enough to share with you.
Less inspires. This sounds like a good place for my honor resolution to cook for a bit… on this question: How does reading God’s Word change me, how do I trust the power of transcendence when I read His Word in my Bible?
How about you? What part of your human nature casts a shadow over how you approach reading God’s Word?
Honor my question with honesty. Is it something similar to ambition, anxiety, like me? Or is it sporadic readings? Is it confusion, is it boredom, is it distraction, is it time, obligation, lack of interest, a longing that is just too shallow? Or what?
Honor this question with honesty because I need you on my 99journey, I want you to find your way in God’s Word. I want to be on your journey. Whatever translation keeps you reading. If this podcast, maybe other sources are how you become familiar with God’s Word, the scriptures that are shared with you, invest in them fully. God makes it enough for you to hear His voice, and grow.
I love books. The Bible is my best “good read” and my witness is my book report WITH EXPRESSION.
Prayer, Honoring. And now a third resolution for my cerebral cuisine for 2023 adds the seasoning that makes it a signature soup. My witness with expression in episode 6.
His grace. My gratitude.
See ya on the Buoy.
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You can find me at kathrynbise.com and @buoykathrynb on Instagram.
Buoy is a Life in Deeper Water podcast.