A S IT is necessary for man to eat in order to sustain life and have strength and vigor, so is it essential for him to meditate upon the Word of God, that he might have spiritual strength and be prosperous. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bring- eth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Ps. 1:2,3). As man’s body becomes weakened and even sickly through excessive dieting and lack of proper foods, so the spiritual man becomes spiritually sick and emaciated through lack of proper spiritual food. I wish to distinguish between a profitable personal devotional period and general Bible reading, both of which are essential. A man may eat large quantities of certain types of food and keep his body alive, yet dis ease and sickness may easily overtake him because of lack of proper vitamins. Spiritually speaking, the same thing may be true. A man may spend considerable time in reading his Bible, and this is important. But even more important than regular Bible reading is man’s need for certain spiritual vitamins which he may obtain only by having a personal devotional time in which he not only reads the Scriptures but also medi tates upon them. One of the greatest habits one can form is to have a definite schedule of Bible reading and go through the Bible at least once a year—more often, if possible. Submission The first essential in conducting a profitable personal devotional period is this: Lend your mind and heart to God for instruction. This is definitely an attitude of the mind and heart. There must be a determination of the will to lend itself to God, that He may speak to us through His Word. Romans 12:2 says, “ And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove [know] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” To lend our hearts, and minds to Him for instruc tion involves the shutting out of other matters that disturb us, such as the work that we are going to do and the trials and cares that confront us. These must all be shut out. We must simply meet God face to face, as though there were no other persons or things around us. It is much easier to accomplish this at the time of rising, before the mind becomes filled with thoughts concerning the problems or cares of the day. Israel was taught this lesson when they were told to gather the manna (which speaks of heavenly food) the first thing in the morning, before the heat of the sun could cause it to melt. Once this lesson is learned, it will become one of the greatest boons to a most profitable devotional period. This is not done once and for all, but it is a constantly repeated attitude, until we are wrapped in His Word. It is the exercise of the personal will and the constant prayer of the heart. We must ask the Spirit to shut out the things of the world and to occupy our minds with Him (Christ). When our hearts and minds have thus been exer cised, we are ready to turn to His Word, permitting Him to speak to us. His Word is profitable. Second Timothy 3:16, 17 states that “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur nished unto all good works.” Heart-Search In this devotional period one should first turn to
heart-searching Scriptures—usually the Epistles or the Proverbs. Other portions of Scripture serve more for worship, which is to follow, and instruction in wisdom, knowledge, and doctrine. God gave instructions to Jeremiah with reference to his preaching to Israel in an attempt to bring them back into fellowship with God. Notice the order in which this instruction was to be given: “ Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (Jer. 1:9,10). Four distinct phrases— “ to root out,” “to pull down,” “ to destroy,” “ to throw down”—are used in this outline given to Jeremiah, which point to the fact that correc tion must come first. Confession Meditate on one verse of Scripture, or a phrase, or a thought of several verses; accept the reproof and correction; acknowledge your own shortcomings as you are being reproved by the Scriptures; ask the Holy Spirit to apply the Word to your heart, to search your heart to see if there is any wickedness therein. When reproof has found its target and you become con victed of sin and wrong, immediately confess that sin to God, judge it properly, treat it as sin, and do not question God’s authority in pointing it out. Remember that Job, when he had met God, said, “ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 6). The Word gives us God’s photograph of our own hearts and what we are in ourselves. It shows us how vile and wicked we would be, should the grace of God be removed from us for even a moment. It is essential that we acknowledge this in every one of our devotional periods before we meet Him with other portions of Scripture which will strengthen us. It is necessary to take away the dross, to cleanse the putrefying sores, to be thoroughly washed in the Word of God, and to recognize that we are children of His mercy by seeing ourselves as naturally wicked beings. But by no means must we stop here, for if we do, we will remain helpless, hopeless, useless beings. As David of old, we must acknowledge our sinfulness and, at the same time, acknowledge God’s great mercy. God knows our very being; He understands that we are but dust, and He wants us to understand our condi tion. Then, in our weakness, He wants to become strong. In I John 1:9 we are told that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. After the rooting out, the pulling down, and the destroying comes the planting and the strengthening. Accept God’s for giveness after you have made confession of your worth lessness, and receive His cleansing from sin. Cleansing Here I wish to inject this thought: Our cleansing from the guilt and condemnation of sin and iniquity was accomplished at the time of our salvation. We are talk ing here about the daily washing and cleansing and sprinkling of the blood for the remission of the sins which hinder our fellowship with Him and make us unfit servants o f His. We must always remember that we may come, and we should come to Him, as a child comes to his mother. A child plays in the mud and
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JUNE, 1964
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