It has sadly become habit to be out of the habit of reading and studying the Bible. Many of us think that our weekly discussion of a few passages that reflect the truth of the message that we’re hearing from the pulpit is a deep enough dive into Scripture, and yet we express frustration in not hearing clearly from God. As Mark has been sharing with us over the past few weeks, we often expect this awesome encounter with God where we audibly hear his voice and there is zero doubt that we have just heard from the Creator; the truth is, while His power is more than able to allow Him to do this, most likely He will not. Why is that?

This past Monday night, Moji and I shared another time of small group with our Youth guys, and this week I was determined that these young men were going to read the Bible and consider and respond to what they had read. Together the ten of us read aloud through the entirety of Philippians (only four chapters…not a difficult feat), and after we read we talked about what we observed in Paul’s letter. It was awesome! And not only that, Noah (who was sitting next to me) suggested that at our next Awaken gathering we should read through a much longer book together as a group and perform the same exercise (I think he even hinted around at tackling Exodus). It was amazing to get into the Word with these guys and for us to just spend reflecting on it…the very way (I think) that we are supposed to go about studying God’s Word.

I challenge you, Bride of Christ. If we want to know what the Bridegroom is saying to us, we need to spend time taking in the words that He has already lovingly shared with us. As Mark shared, it’s a pretty good place to start.

“If you want to know what God is saying, read the Bible; if you want to hear God speaking to you, read the Bible out loud.” – Unknown

Profound, and very true. What do you say, church?

David Henderson
Student Pastor