More Attention, More Love
I think we need to be ruthlessly honest about the kind of attention we give Scripture. We need to ask ourselves the question, Am I really giving serious attention to Scripture?
The reality is we don’t grow in our love for something by giving it less and less attention or by being more and more distant from it. For instance, when I think about how I grow in my love for a TV show, what I do is I give it repeated and serious attention. And as I give more and more attention to the show, lo and behold, I love the show even more (if it’s a good show).
Similarly, the way that we grow in our love for Scripture is not by being distant and hoping that God will beam down love for Scripture from heaven. Rather, we have to actually give it some serious attention and be honest with ourselves about whether or not we are actually doing that.
On top of that, we need to pray earnestly. The Gettys have this song called “Speak, O Lord,” and the lyrics say, “Feed us with your word.” When we approach God’s word, we need to recognize that if it’s personal communication, if it’s for our good, and if God wants to feed us, then we need to pray that God would do that every time we engage with it. It’s not going to always feel a certain way, but that’s the way we need to engage it. It’s food for our souls, it’s meant for our good, and God wants to give us gift upon gift if we would just engage with it.
Uche Anizor is the author of The Goodness of God in the Gift of Scripture: 20 Meditations.
Uche Anizor (PhD, Wheaton College) is professor of theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. His other books include Overcoming Apathy and How to Read Theology.
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