You may remember that I am in a study with a group of men in Ephesians. We are on the overview part of the study so as a group we are to be reading the book at one sitting and making observations on the book as a whole.
So I was reading through the book this afternoon and got as far as Ephesians 1:4. Then I did what I have told the guys over and over not to do, I dove down deep in that verse. Totally ignored my own rules. Spent about 2 hours working through the verse, making observations and getting blown away by what I saw. At the end of the time I literally was in tears over what I had seen.
My wife came home from school and I was sharing with her what I had found. She was tired from dealing with kids with special needs all day. She wanted to hear what I had found, so I went through it with her. She thought it was good. However, it did not impact her the way it impacted me. Why?
It took me about 10 minutes to share with her what I had seen in 2 hours of work. She listened, but she had not spent the time working through the passage. So while the information was interesting for her, it was not processed through her experience. It really would not have made a difference if I had taken 30 minutes. There was no way I could communicate what I had seen there.
It is the same for all of us. There is what others tell us – it may be interesting, even compelling. But it cannot be a substitute for our own engagement. It is when the Holy Spirit unfolds the truth to us, personally, that real change, real impact occurs.
That is why we have to be in the Word for ourselves. That point was highlighted, underlined, put in italics, and in a bold font again this afternoon.
So I was reading through the book this afternoon and got as far as Ephesians 1:4. Then I did what I have told the guys over and over not to do, I dove down deep in that verse. Totally ignored my own rules. Spent about 2 hours working through the verse, making observations and getting blown away by what I saw. At the end of the time I literally was in tears over what I had seen.
It took me about 10 minutes to share with her what I had seen in 2 hours of work. She listened, but she had not spent the time working through the passage. So while the information was interesting for her, it was not processed through her experience. It really would not have made a difference if I had taken 30 minutes. There was no way I could communicate what I had seen there.
It is the same for all of us. There is what others tell us – it may be interesting, even compelling. But it cannot be a substitute for our own engagement. It is when the Holy Spirit unfolds the truth to us, personally, that real change, real impact occurs.
That is why we have to be in the Word for ourselves. That point was highlighted, underlined, put in italics, and in a bold font again this afternoon.
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