Ever wish your life could change without you knowing it? Like application by osmosis. Put your Bible under your pillow, and it automatically transforms your life.
But you know that’s not how it works.
Your pastor always has three alliterated points of application, and so does your devotional book . . .
What are you waiting for? Your time in the Word should be the same.
Read through the Scripture passage of the day {which you very well may never read again until next year}, and blindly search for points of application. Right?
Wrong.
“Be doers of the Word and not hearers only,” yes. But I can read a passage once or twice and “find application,” or I can study a passage at length, and let the application find me.
The latter is much preferred, and here’s how to do it:
- Soak in the Word. Spend a length of time {weeks? months?} in the passage at hand, and just think. Ask questions. Meditate. Ponder. Revel.
- See the Word at work. When you soak in the Word, application just happens, and that’s about as authentic as it gets.
- Search for Application. This, my friends, is Step #3. One. two. three. You may not get to Step #3 for weeks. Or months. And then . . . How should 21st-century Christians apply this passage? How does this passage strike me personally? In what ways do I desire to take this passage to heart and see it at work in my life?
The application you will find in the end is not what you would have found in the beginning.
Skeptical? Try me.
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Journey of the Word 
This was so short but full of truth and inspires me rather than leaving me with a new TODO or a weight of guilt. Thank you! I have definitely found it to be true that the longer you meditate on Scripture and dig it deep into your heart the more chance the Holy Spirit has to bring it to mind, or to “apply” it to the situations of life.
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I love it, Lydia. Yes, digging deep is so worth it. I always say reading the Bible is a marathon, not a sprint. No need to hurry through it. Take a few days to study a passage if you’d like. You won’t regret it.
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Yesss! I’ve taken to writing down scripture on a sticky note and leaving it on my desk at work in a place I can see it. That helps it soak in and I can just ponder on it for a while. This week’s scripture: Colossians 4:6. Nice reminder this week to answer everyone kindly, even though a dash of sarcasm would get the point across even better. 🙂
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