A Thought

“It cannot be that the people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading.  A reading people will always be a knowing people.  A people who talk much will know little.”  John Wesley

John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, was talking about Scripture reading primarily though it seems clear he was as well versed in the classics as well as the writings of the early Church fathers and the Reformers.  For our purposes, however, we must be concerned with the reality of our Lord and what He has to say to the entire Church.  Spirituality is all well and good, but it cannot be said that the Spirit of the Lord will call us to go against what is clearly written in Scripture; and because the Bible itself is so readily accessible and available, we cannot use ignorance of what is written as an excuse.

The point of such focused and disciplined reading, as Wesley saw it, was to “grow in grace”; to learn more about our Lord (and ourselves!) and draw closer to Him as we grow in grace, love, and holiness.  In other words, to work harder to become more like Him while knowing what He is actually like – as opposed to making something up to suit our own fancy based only on what we “heard” from the preacher.  If we do not know Him because we do not read His Word, how can we claim to know anything about Him at all, let alone call Him a “personal” Savior?   Would you refer to any friend as a “personal” friend if you know nothing about them?

We not only need to know more about the Lord, we also desperately need the sanctuary of those moments spent with Him.  Clearly we do not do Sabbath as the Lord intended for us, so we need to reclaim these Sabbath moments; rest for the weary soul, and to learn to “test the spirits” who are very real and do seek to draw us away from the Lord.

Give yourselves the greatest gift you can give yourselves today and each day: a little peace, a little quiet, a little solitude … and more blessings than you can count!

Blessings,

Michael