“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Col 3:16)
We have so much around us trying to mute or drown out God’s word. So how can we turn the volume up on God’s word? How can the word of Christ dwell richly in us? Let’s focus on the individual level now, and then look at how we do this as a group next week. Here are some basics we can all do:
Read the Bible each day – Pick a time and stick to it. Read a section or a chapter a day. That might take up to 10 minutes. Our culture suffers from biblical illiteracy – they have no idea what the Bible says. Don’t be content to be biblically illiterate.
Pray the Bible each day – What can you pray about in your reading? What did you learn about God, Christ, the world, you? Pray about it, consider it, even pray the very words back to God (“Thank you, God, that you are my shepherd, and that I don’t want.”)
Memorise the Bible each day – This is the one people get stuck on, but we shouldn’t! Take one of the shorter letters in the New Testament, and take the year to memorise. Some tips: Read one verse ten times out loud; say it from memory ten times (glancing back if you have to). The next day, recite the previous verse, then read the next verse 10 times, and recite it ten times. And keep going! Recite what you’ve learned, then add to it. When you finish the book, say it all for the next 100 days. Then move on! It won’t stay word perfect, but it’ll be very familiar! (I’m working on 1 John. Why not try Philippians?)
If we do this the word of Christ will begin to dwell in us richly.