“Taken from an article that first appeared on Crosswalk.com, August 12, 2019.”
Nearly twenty years in the classroom teaching Language Arts to fifth and sixth graders, yet it wasn’t until after I retired that I made the connection.
When my students entered the classroom at the beginning of the year, they knew how to read, how to call out the words on a page. My job was to teach them to read with purpose and for meaning. With an arsenal of strategies at my disposal, we worked all year so that they could, on their own, make meaning from a given text.
Funny that it wasn’t until I left teaching, that God helped me make an important connection.
Day after day, He brought the issue to my attention through blog articles, research data, and conversations of one sort or the other.
Reading the Bible is a struggle for many.
They read the words but are left without meaning.
What was the connection? Many of us are approaching our Bible reading with a single strategy – word call. But reading the Bible for meaning requires that we go deeper. We must engage with the text and to do that requires the implementation of some reading strategies from our arsenal.
A Relational Process
To understand the Bible (our text), we must engage with it. Simply put, it’s imperative that we learn to go beyond word call (surface level) when we read.
This is so important, in fact, that we find its instruction in the Bible. Within its pages, we are told to:
- meditate on it (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2).
- ponder His statues (Psalm 119:95).
- dwell among the message of Christ (Colossians 3:16).
- reflect on (2 Timothy 2:7) and
- look intently into the perfect law (James 1:25).
Notice how each of these instructions calls us to interact with the text. Engaging with the Scripture is a way of coming to God’s Word with an awareness that the Bible is a place for encountering God. It is an active process, one that invites us to come directly to Him in acts of meditation, consideration, and deep thought. All of which result in transformation of heart and deepening relationship with Him.
Back to the Classroom
It is with this need in mind that Engaging the Scripture was developed. This 6-week online group is for those who want to go beyond the single strategy of word call when reading the Bible. It’s a place to discover and practice strategies for deeper reading. While building our arsenal of Bible reading strategies, we will actively engage with the text and the Author of that text.
The Facebook group will begin on Monday, September 21, 2020 and each Monday following, a new “lesson/technique” will be posted. The cost for participating in the group is $10.00 and includes a PDF workbook.
If you would like to be a part of this “engaging” group where you can join with others to receive encouragement and accountability as you discover deeper ways of reading the Bible, click HERE.
When you make your payment, please be sure to include your email address and Facebook “name,” so that we can get you into the group.
Engaging the Scripture Online Group
Engaging the Scripture Online Group (Group begins Monday, September 21, 2020)
A 6-week “journey” in digging deeper into the Word of God. Together, the group will work through the booklet which is included. (The group will meet via a private Facebook group. Please include your email address and Facebook “name” with payment so we can get you in the group.)
$10.00
Click HERE to purchase the online group experience. (Begins 9-21-2020 and includes the booklet.)
1 comment
karentfriday
Such a powerful analogy! I love the thought of interacting with a text in the Holy Scriptures! Really engaging with it instead of only recalling the words like in reading without understanding the meaning.