A former pastor of my church used to frequently say that people should quit spending their time studying the Bible and instead start doing what they already know that it says. Now, he was making a valid point—there’s little use in Bible knowledge that does not result in action. It’s the same point James makes: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 ESV).

However, I take issue with my former pastor’s advice, because he was setting up a false dichotomy between studying the word of God and acting out the word of God. Even worse, when we say that we should do what the Bible says instead of spending time in the Bible, we ignore the power of Biblical truth to change our behavior if we cooperate with it.

The Bible describes itself this way: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV). This means that the Bible not just a passive bank of knowledge that we can look into and learn as we choose. It has power and the ability to change us.

This theme of scripture as able to influence action appears in several places. As Joshua begins his leadership of Israel, God tells him, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (Joshua 1:8a ESV). The psalmist declares, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,” (Psalm 119:11 ESV). Just before his statement that we need to be doers of the word and not just hearers, James instructs his readers to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21b ESV).

Scripture is powerful. It can guard us from sin. It can help us to do the right thing. Its truth saves us. But, for that to actually happen, two things are required of us.

First, we really do have to act on what we know. We need to do the things that are clearly laid out for us in scripture. We need to be prepared for God to use our Bible study to prompt us to action, and we need to take those actions when that happens. We must be doers.

The good news is that acting out what we read gets easier if we do the second thing and, as intended by the author, meditate on it. Joshua wasn’t told to read through the law once; he was told to meditate on it constantly. The psalmist doesn’t talk about casual reading but about a much deeper knowledge. James refers to the implanted word.

For many years, Bible reading and study have been a part of my life. However, I have been less faithful in the area of scripture memory and meditation. I memorized a number of Bible verses as a child, as would be expected for the daughter of pastor and then a missionary, who also wanted to win the Bible sword drills at summer camp. As an adult, I’ve always had good intentions regarding memorization, but I have only intermittently followed through.

In the last several months, I’ve discovered a website for Bible memorization that actually works for me (at least so far). I’ve been working on memorizing both verses I’ve chosen and collections that others have put together on the site.

Here’s what’s great about that: as I dwell on a verse and spend time not only getting the words in my head, but also meditating on the words and their meaning, I see things that I would never see in my typical morning Bible reading. I say this with some confidence, since I hadn’t seen them the last thirty times I read the chapter. Some of that is God bringing certain things to my attention because of where I am in life and what he’s teaching me right now, but this is also a result of my spending the time and allowing the meaning to seep into the dark crevices of my heart. I am inspired to act in accordance with the truth in that scripture.  It’s no longer a matter of making myself do what I should, but rather allowing the living and active word of God to change my heart and help me do what I ought.

Let’s do what we know already, but let’s do it out of the inspiration gained through serious meditation on the word of God.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash