Luke 19:45-46 (ESV)
[45] And he entered the temple
and began to drive out those who sold, [46] saying to them, “It is written, ‘My
house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
I blog regularly when I’m not
traveling. I started it because it helps me think through a passage of Scripture.
Writing loosens my mind and helps me process what I’m reading and thinking. As I
was writing about what I was reading, I began to realize that others might
benefit from it as well, so I started blogging. God has used that in people’s
lives, and I am grateful. But I’ve also recognized a danger in it. It is easy
to move from praying, “God show me what you have for me in this passage,” to
thinking, “What will I write for people and how will they receive it?”
As a pastor and ministry leader
it is easy to study every text in light of a sermon or Bible Study. But therein
lies the danger. Before I can ever read the Bible for others, I must first read
it for myself. Every sermon, every Bible study, every blog must first be taken
personally before I can share it with others. If I neglect to do this, am I
really so different from those vendors that Jesus drove out of the temple? They
were there for material benefit, not for prayer and worship. If I come to the
Word for a sermon or blog rather than for prayer and worship, I am guilty of
the same offense.
Read the Word of God. Study it,
meditate on it, seek to understand what it means and then how that applies to
your life. Don’t reverse the process, and don’t approach it just so you have something
to share with others. As you open the Word of God, make this your prayer:
Open my eyes,
that I may see
glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key,
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
ready, my God, Thy will to see;
open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine! (Clara H. Scott
(1885))
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