by Pastor Patrick Cho

When a young child reads through the Bible or learns the accounts of Scripture from their parents or in Sunday School, oftentimes unfortunately the lessons do not venture beyond understanding the basic facts of a narrative. What happened? Who was involved? When and where did this take place? But most of the time when reading through Scripture, the real “meaty” goodness of devotional quality comes from asking deeper questions. How did things unfold? Why did it happen? How could things have ended differently?

There are many Christians who are exposed to solid biblical teaching regularly, and yet they struggle to find real meaning in anything they read on their own. Perhaps this comes from far too great a dependence on others to provide instruction. They will only derive devotional quality if it is spoon fed to them in easy to swallow morsels. This should not be so. The Scriptures clearly teach us that the same Spirit of God grants understanding of His Word (1 Cor. 2:12-13). Studying the Bible is not reserved exclusively for the “experts.” Any believer should be able to have a deep and satisfying time in the Word.

How can we get more from the Bible? There are many beneficial principles to consider, but perhaps the most helpful is the principle of meditation. One huge, glaring problem is the lack of time spent to really think through what we are reading. The more I think about what has helped me in my study of God’s Word (and my devotion to God) the more I come back to the idea of meditation and realize that it involves a factor of time. Think about how often the psalmist recollects the time he spends meditating on the Word of God. From the NASB translation, eight times in Psalm 119 the psalmist employs the verb “to meditate” (vv. 15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148). The one who maximizes his time in the Word is the one who spends time thinking on what he has read. He meditates day and night (Ps. 1:2). He meditates on his bed (Ps. 4:4). He even meditates through the night (Ps. 63:6). It is his meditation all day long (Ps. 119:97).

This is consistent with the commandment of God to His people, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:6-9). In order to make sure you don’t lose sight of who God is, what He is like, and what He requires of you, you need to spend time meditating on His Word so that it is “on your heart.” Going back to the analogy of spiritual morsels, the diligent student of the Word allows time to chew on each thought and to slowly digest them until they become a part of himself and incorporated into his life.

Here are fifteen questions to consider as you read in order to help you get the most out of God’s Word:

1. What does the passage reveal about God? What is He like and how does He act?
2. In what ways do you appreciate and esteem God more because of what you read? How might you pray these thoughts back to God in worship?
3. Why does God act the way that He does? In your opinion, how could God have responded differently? Why didn’t He respond that way? What does this say about the difference between God and you?
4. What does the passage teach regarding right and wrong, good and evil, obedience and sin?
5. What are some things the passage reveals about man?
6. From what you read, how do you need to grow? What does God want from you?
7. What areas in your life need the most improvement based on what you read? What are some things you tend to do that need to change?
8. How can you think differently based on what you read? In what ways are you prone to think differently than what the passage reveals?
9. What sins need to be confessed to the Lord in response to what you read? Be specific.
10. How does this passage challenge your beliefs? Do you find it easy or difficult to trust what the passage says? Why?
11. What, if anything, does the passage explicitly command? Is the command intended as a general call for obedience or was it intended for a particular audience in that day?
12. In what other ways might the passage apply in your life specifically? How can you implement the application of this passage today? Again, be specific.
13. If you read about a person in Scripture, in what ways does that person serve as an example of faith or a warning regarding disobedience?
14. What did you learn from the passage that you did not know before? If it is a passage you have read before, is there something you noticed this time that you did not notice before?
15. How might you encourage someone else and be a blessing to others from what you read today?