On Bible Drill Wednesday, we want to give you resources to understand the Bible, equip you with tools to engage in Bible study, and whet your appetite to dig deeper into the Scriptures. Sometimes, we write a summary of a book of the Bible. Other times, we dig into a specific passage. And recently, we’ve been giving you different methods and study tools to assist you in Bible reading and study.
Today, I want to talk about lectio divina.
Bible Study is the process by which we dissect Scripture.
Meditation is the process in which we allow the Scripture to dissect us.
As John Ortberg says, the goal is not to get though Scripture. The goal is to get Scripture through us.
Brian McLaren says that instead of reading the Bible, we should allow the Bible to read us.Looking at Scripture is like looking into a mirror.
James 1:22 says,
“And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”
“Keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law.†In the original Greek, this “looking steadily†means to “bend over†or “bow down.†It’s about digging deeper. It’s about looking past what we think we already know.
Lectio Divina is one approach to Scripture that requires us to “bend down.” It doesn’t require a set of commentaries or a concordance or a Greek New Testament. It doesn’t require any special training. In lectio divina, we do not read the Bible like scholars or teachers. We don’t sanitize it and scrutinize it. Rather, we approach the Scriptures as a sacred object and a living, dynamic revelation of God to us today. We let the Scriptures dissect us as we read it and chew on it.
Some call it devotional reading. Some call it meditation. Whatever you want to call it, it’s about approaching Scripture as a personal message to you. “Lectio†means “reading. †And “divina†means “holy†or “sacred.†Here are some guidelines.
GUIDELINES
- Choose a passage to read (a good one to try is Exodus 33:7-11)
- Find a quiet and comfortable place. Remove all distractions.
- Pray. Leave your concerns and worries at his feet. Ask God to give you the mind of Christ as you read.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to come and illuminate the Scripture. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to bring Scripture to life for you.
- Read the passage through three or four times. Read it through once. Then maybe read it out loud. Read it again emphasizing different words.
- Read the passage with a sanctified imagination. Imagine the scenery. Consider the sights, the smells, the sounds, the feelings. Leonardo da Vinci once said the average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance, and talks without thinking.â€
- Go back to the text and circle words and phrases that jump out at you.
- Finally, write down your reflections and the response you sense God asking of you.
Heather, that was great and timely for me, but how do you find those ideal passages? Do you do that reading the Bible from front cover to the end of Revelations? Start with the Psalms?
Brandon B
October 11th, 2006
Heather this is a fabulous description of LD. We have practiced this for a long time in our small group. It’s great to have the scripture read out loud. I totally love it. Thanks for the reminder to pick it up again.
H
heidi scanlon
October 12th, 2006
Brandon- The Psalms are great places to start. Here are some other good passages:
John 15:1-5
Matthew 5:1-16
Matthew 6:25-34
Matthew 7:7-11
Luke 10:25-37
I think it’s mainly a matter of listening to the Spirit as we read and asking him to interpret the Scriptures for us. If we are reading through the Scriptures without really meditating on them, it might be a good time to just slow down and chew on a couple of Scriptures. When we find we are reading solely for information instead of for life transformation, then it’s time to meditate.
Heather Z
October 13th, 2006
I have deeply enjoyed and benefitted from the discipline as well. I have been offering a shortened version at the opening of some Church meetings at a small gathering in San Diego called The Path Community, part of Skyline Wesleyan Church. It has been well received, and many have preferred the calmness to our normal upbeat song intro. I thought to create a blog as a way to encourage people to practice lectio divina daily.
The purpose of our blog is really only to suggest passages daily and provide a place for sharing experiences in a spirit of edification. You’re all welcome to join us, and I would really appreciate any suggestions you might make about the functionality of the blog I’ve created. I want it to be as intuitive as possible.
check it out at lectiodivina.blogspot.com
-Michael
P.S. A friend of mine has a book coming out later in November on the subject of prayer and discipline. You can find a PDF of the first part here:
http://ianpolanco.com/mark/myspace/ROPMyspaceSample.pdf
And his myspace id is:
markamoore
Michael Norton
November 1st, 2006
The blog looks great, Michael! I will recommend to the leaders of some of our spiritual discipline-oriented groups.
Heather Z
November 1st, 2006