Week 2, first companion meeting
Song:
Hymn #806 Break Thou the Bread of Life ( New Tune: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/nt/806 )
- Break Thou the Bread of Life,
Dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the loaves
Beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page
I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee,
O Living Word.
Break Thou the Bread of Life,
Dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the loaves
Beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page
I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee,
O Living Word.
Take a little time to pray to open to the Lord and to read and pray over the verses below.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
HOW TO ENJOY GOD IN READING THE WORD
We will consider how to enjoy Him in reading the Word. In other words, we want to see how we should study the Bible. Since this is a broad subject, we will focus only on how to absorb God through reading the Word.
Whoever is experienced in fellowshipping with God knows that the way to receive and assimilate God is either in prayer or in reading the Word. Prayer and reading the Word are the two best ways for man to contact God. Although many people pray, they do not contact God, and although many people study the Word, they do not absorb God. There are different kinds of prayer, and there are different ways to read the Bible. In order to know how to assimilate God when reading the Bible, we need a basic understanding.
Prayer is not asking God to do many things, but it is breathing in God. Similarly, reading the Word is not digging out many teachings from the Bible but assimilating God. Although the Bible is full of teachings, and it is difficult to find another book that contains as many teachings as the Bible, when we seek God through the Word, we should realize that the Bible is not merely a book of teachings. When we study the Word, we should not look for teachings, just as when we pray, we should not ask for many things. The purpose of our prayer is to breathe in God. Similarly, the purpose of our reading the Bible is to assimilate God. The subject and the center of prayer is God Himself. The subject and the center of reading the Word should also be God Himself. Just as we breathe ourselves out and breathe in God through prayer, we deny ourselves and receive all that God is through reading the Word. The real reading of the Word has nothing to do with acquiring teaching in the mind. Rather, it is a fresh assimilation of God in the spirit.
God’s children need this basic understanding. Whenever we come to the Bible, we should not have the concept that it is for the purpose of gaining some teachings. Instead, we should have the concept that we are here to touch God Himself. Instead of being taught by the Bible, we are here to assimilate God Himself through the Bible. Whenever we open the Bible, we should not desire teachings; our desire should be to gain God Himself. Considering the Bible as a book of teachings is not the proper Christian attitude in reading God’s Word. The proper attitude for every child of God when coming to the Word is to consider it as another opportunity to contact God Himself. We should be deeply impressed by this, and we should have this basic change in concept. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, Chapter 6)
Questions
- What are your biggest challenges to reading the Bible? What has helped you or worked for you? Share these with one another.
- What is your main goal when you come to the Word of God? Did the reading today help you to come to the Bible in a different way?
- How is the truth pursuit going for you? What are you enjoying? Are there difficulties? Perhaps you can pray for one another based on what was shared.
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