"Lectio Divina"

Are you bored with reading your Bible? Do you find yourself reading it more out of duty than devotion? Is your study time a little rusty lately? It’s okay to say “yes” you’re not alone. In fact, I have been there myself and so has every other honest Christian. You know the routine don’t you? We loathingly rise up early in the morning after winning what Rick Warren calls, “the battle of the blankets” and off we go with our Bible in one hand and a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee in the other. Into a quiet room we go hoping to get spiritually fine-tuned and we get tuned alright, we get “tune-out!” The head starts nodding as we fight sleepiness, the yawning kicks in and before we know it we are either asleep on our Bibles or off to hit the day because we’ve been distracted once again.

Have you been there? Of course you have. Don’t worry, there’s a solution. It’s called, “lectio divina.” Inspired? Probably not, more than likely you’re scratching your head wondering to yourself, “What in the world is lectio divina?” It has to do with our approach to reading the Bible. It's a Latin phrase that simply means, “Divine Reading.” It’s what one person described as “the kind of reading in which the mind descends into the heart.” It’s reading the word in search of the WORD. It’s not only you going through the Bible, but it’s the Bible going through you. The Bible is an organism. It’s alive. It’s the only book that you read that reads you. While we search the Scriptures, the Scriptures search us. It’s not only reading the Bible for information, but transformation. It’s you getting inside the Bible so the Bible can get inside you.

Am I making sense?

While I was in seminary in Dallas Prof. Hendricks described “Lectio Divina” in a way that clicked. Though he didn’t use those words, he was on to something that he called “The 40/20 Principle.” He spoke about how we should read for forty minutes and reflect for twenty. If you read the Bible fifteen minutes per day than the 40/20 principle would mean you read for ten minutes and reflect for five. I like that! Read and reflect. The difference is you are prayerfully reading and reflecting in search of God verses passively reading in search of God knows what. You see I believe the missing link between merely study and sanctification is meditation. When we reflect and meditate over God’s Word we take it from our head to our heart. It’s how we move from information to integration, from frustration to jubilation. It’s the key to throwing JOY back into our devotional life.

In fact, I believe it is because of “lectio divina” that God called David, “A man after My own heart.” David was more than a warrior, he was also a worshipper. He was more than a man’s man, he was God’s man. He had both a brave heart and a broken heart. He was a man with an appetite: an appetite for God’s Word. In his famous Psalm 119 he wrote in verse 97, “Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.” What made David a man after God’s own heart? The missing link of meditation! He read for renewal, not ritual. He worshipped from a heart of purity, not piety. He wasn’t merely reading, he was “Divine Reading.” He was looking for God in the Scriptures, not a check box on his daily planner.

Want a white hot heart for God again? Want to sense the overwhelming power of His presence in your study? Want to feel His glow in your heart like you once did? Want to enjoy reading the Bible verses enduring it? Than “lectio divina” is your answer. Don’t just read; Divine Read. Here is a simple closing application: start your reading off next time with David’s prayer, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18) and you’ll find more than print on a page, but a Savior in your midst.

Till next time, bC