As I said in the last post, I am learning to dig deeper into the Bible. Here are a couple of things that I do to help me. There are more but this is a good place to start.
First, I pray. Honestly, I am not going to get anything out of this if the Holy Spirit isn’t helping me.
Next, I read the verses multiple times in different verses. I try to read it over a couple of days. I get more out of it if I spread it out and don’t try to cram it all in at once. As I’ve said in a previous post, I’m learning that the key to hearing what God is saying is to make time.
Then, I ask questions. What questions pop into my mind as I’m reading (I write these down)? What verses stand out? What verses keep drawing me back? What is it in those verses that are making me pause? Is there a detail that seems odd? Why is it there? If I were in the story, who would I be? Who is writing and to whom are they writing?
Then, I keep coming back. I pray and I listen for what God is trying to tell me. Finally, what is the Holy Spirit saying to me about this text that is important to my life? What am I going to do about it? How am I going to apply this? There is no point in reading the Bible if I am not going to do something with it.
Let’s try it. Read John 8:1-11 in a few different versions. What questions or thoughts did you come up with? What impressions did you get? How should you apply that to your life? Do the exercise and then look below to see what I walked away with. It’s good to share these thoughts with others…that way we can all grow into a deeper walk with Jesus.
“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
John 8:1-11 NLT
Here are some of the questions/thoughts the Holy Spirit popped into my head.
How exactly did they “catch” her in adultery? Wouldn’t that be behind closed doors? Where was the man? You can’t get caught in adultery by yourself.
As this woman was standing(?) in front of the crowd, I wonder how she felt. Was she waiting to feel the first pelt of a rock? Was she resigned to the fact that she was going to die? Did she care? How humiliating this must have been for her. Why was she an adulterer? What led her there?
Why did he stoop down to write in the dust? Was he writing a message to the woman? Was he writing to the men demanding an answer? To the crowd?
When Jesus said “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone”, why was it the oldest who left first? Were they more aware of their own sins? Did the younger guys just not get it? Did they leave only because they didn’t have the crowd to back them up?
In all of the distractions and chaos, Jesus never lost focus of the most important thing, the woman. If it were me, I would have been looking at the circumstances trying to figure out how to make it stop. Jesus wasn’t worried about himself. His heart was with the woman.
Notice at the end what he said to her? I am not condemning you but stop doing this thing that is hurting you. I know he says the same thing to me. “I’ve covered you but I love you. Stop doing this thing that is hurting you/stopping you/making you less than.” Am I listening?
Question for myself: Do I ever get so caught up in a cultural norm or in what is happening around me that I forget to see the person God has put in my path? Yes, I do. What am I going to do about it? At this point, I as God for help because I know I cannot do this on my own.
How’d you do? What was your Holy Spirit take-away?
Praying for your journey Friend!