The Word is Alive

The Word is Alive

Hebrews 4: 12 says “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This is something I have heard for most of my life. “The word is alive.” God is continually moving and speaking through His word, even though it was written so long ago. The question is: How can we continue to view the word as “alive” when it is something that has become so commonplace in our lives?

Since I was born I have probably either heard or read the story of Noah’s ark a total of 1,000 times and that is true for most of the accounts in the Bible. Because of this, when I read the Word I can sometimes feel unenthused when I am reading it because I’ve read it so many times. This is not what God intended when He gave us his word. The Bible should bring new revelation and meaning to our lives with every reading. In this post today I will be discussing some ways to revitalize your Bible reading and make the Word come alive again. If your Bible time is lack-luster, here are some things you can do.

1. Find out the History
For me the Old Testament can sometimes be hard to read, especially those dense books like Numbers and Deuteronomy. What was helpful for me was reading about what was going on historically at the time these books were written. This can shed light at to why God is commanding the Israelites to do the things He asks them to do. By studying daily life in Israel, we can draw connections to scripture and gain a deeper understanding of what God is saying in the Word.

2. Word Study 
A meaningful thing to do while you are reading is to identify particular words and ask “why did the author choose this word instead of another word.” For instance, in Genesis 1, the Bible refers to everything God did as “good.” Why not “fantastic” or “spectacular?” A great way to study this is to look at the original Hebrew translated word for word. http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Hebrew_Index.htm is a great website for this. It shows the Hebrew translated word for word next to today’s Bible. Also, looking at a concordance can be helpful. There is more meaning than you know in the Bible that is waiting to be discovered.

3. Praying the Psalms 
Most of the Psalms are actual prayers and in ancient times they were often chanted aloud. Praying through the Psalms is a very meaningful experience that can bring depth to you Bible reading. One way to do this is by switching up the pronouns. For instance, Psalm 105: 1-4 says

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
 Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
 Look to the Lord and his strength;
 seek his face always.

To pray this, add “I” before each line and change pronouns referring to God into “you”.

I will give praise to you LORD, I will proclaim your name
I will make known among the nations what you have done.
    let my heart seek you and rejoice.
I will sing to you, sing praise to you;
    tell of all your wonderful acts.
 Glory in your holy name;
I look to you and your strength;
I will seek your face always.

This is just one example of how to pray a Psalm but it is very effective and turns the Psalms from a prayer written by David into a cry of our own hearts. It makes it more personal.

4. Get Creative 
For all you artists out there, use your creativity to enhance your Bible experience. Compose songs when you are reading the Psalms or simply sing whatever tune comes to mind. Read dramatically aloud the passage as you feel the writer would have said it. Paint or draw a picture based on a passage of scripture. I have seen several posts lately of people turning their actual Bibles into works of art by drawing in the margins. This blog shows great examples of this: http://www.rebekahrjones.com/bible-art-journaling-challenge/ . Get creative and a guarantee your Bible will become more and more precious to you as you go.

I hope some of these suggestions are helpful and will revive a love for the Bible in you. The Word is Alive and God can make it alive again for you if you let Him!