Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

GROWTH+ : Read the Bible.

Psalm 1v1-2 “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the Torah of the Lord and who meditates on His Torah day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water.”  (NIV)

On Sunday we considered two particular ways of reading the Bible: reading as a narrative or story a reasonable section; or meditating on a small section.

The New Living Translation replaces the religious language of, “Blessed are those …” with, “Oh, the joys of those…”. Wow – this is a good place to be! Meditating on the word is not a drudgery, nor is it, “if I have to”, but it is a joy, a delight, a source of great blessing!

I have taken the liberty of replacing the word “law” in the NIV with actual Hebrew word “Torah” which is broader than our English understanding of “Law”. It more clearly points us to the whole of the first 5 books of of the Bible which was their Scripture at the time. Here is the interesting thing though: The Hebrew origin of the word “Torah” is a word which literally means “to flow as water”. That makes the imagery of “a tree planted by streams of water” so natural and has all sorts of implications – let your mind flow with that one!

Meditation is to plant ourselves in the Word of God, and so allow ourselves to grow spiritually as its nutrients pass through our spiritual and emotional system. The Message paraphrases this phrase, “chew on Scripture day and night”, which conveys a different imagery, but the same thought of getting the goodness out of the Word. Am I swallowing or chewing?

When did you last meditate on God’s Word? If not for a while, here is a verse to start with. Think on the words, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water.” Ask questions like: What is it like to be a tree planted by streams of water? Is that my desire for my life? How does this passage tell us we can be that person? Bring your thoughts to God and receive his blessing.

With love and blessing,

Roland