How to Get a Grip on the Scriptures

“Get a grip!” Many people use this phrase, meaning to get control of oneself or to not get so worked up about something. Can’t stop complaining about things happening in your life? ‘Get a grip!’ If watching the news makes you depressed, ‘Get a grip!’ Consumed with envy over what other people have? ‘Get a grip!’

But there are other, broader senses of that phrase. The most obvious would apply to people who work with their hands, like carpenters, plumbers, or artists. If using a hammer, wrench, or paintbrush, you better ‘get a grip’ if you’re going to accomplish whatever you’re trying to do. When I was taking drum lessons, I discovered ‘getting a grip’ was easier said than done – trying to move quickly around the drum kit, occasionally a drumstick would slip out of my hands.

 

Of even greater importance is getting a grip on a particular pursuit, achieving a measure of mastery in a chosen skill or discipline. I admire people demonstrating great expertise at whatever they do, whether it’s interior design, accounting, teaching, genealogy, mechanics, culinary arts, or other such vocational or avocational interests. But they didn’t achieve their excellence overnight; it took countless hours to ‘get a grip’ – to master what they desired to do.

 

The same holds true in a spiritual sense. For instance, gaining a deep understanding of the Scriptures isn’t something that can be achieved by spending a few minutes now and then. The typical Bible has more than 1,500 pages – the truths they contain are deep enough to fill the lifetime of even the most determined theologian.

 

That doesn’t mean biblical teachings are unfathomable for the ‘layman,’ someone who has never darkened the halls of a seminary, much less preached from a pulpit. To get a grip on the Scriptures, all we need to do is look at our hands. 

 

As I’ve mentioned before, my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ began years ago when I joined a small group that used study materials developed by The Navigators. Originally focused on ministering to people in the armed forces, the Navs eventually expanded to college campuses and churches. One strategy for teaching how to get a grip on the Bible was what they called “the hand illustration.”

Why the hand? Pick up a Bible with one hand. Then transfer it to your other hand but try holding it only with your little finger. It’ll fall, right? Attempt this again, using only your little finger and thumb. Your grip on the book is tenuous; it can easily be pulled from your grasp. Add a third finger, then a fourth, and finally all five. Now you’ll have a strong grip on the Bible – someone would have a hard time wresting it out of your hand.

 

In a similar sense, it requires five ‘fingers’ to gain a strong grip on God’s Word. Each finger on the hand represents an action step for internalizing the Scriptures and learning how to put the truths and principles into use. The five are to: hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate.

 

Hear. It starts with hearing, whether a sermon at church, a message at a conference, a program on the radio, or even a conversation with a follower of Jesus. As Romans 10:17 explains, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

 

Read. Next comes reading the Scriptures for yourself, seeking to learn who God is and the truths He reveals through His Word. “Blessed is the one who read the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it…” (Revelation 1:3).

 

Study. The third ‘finger’ in this process is studying – when the hard work really begins. It’s more than just reading what the Bible says. It’s digging, seeking to understand its meaning and discover treasures it contains for today and for eternity. In Acts 17:11 we see an example: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” We’re to be like the diligent, studious Bereans.

 

Memorize. When we encounter especially meaningful verses or passages in the Bible, one of the best ways for internalizing them is to commit them to memory. Then, like building a spiritual filing cabinet, they’re accessible for use without having to open a Bible. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says they’re to become such a part of us they work themselves into everyday conversations: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” 

 

Another passage that affirms Scripture memorization is Psalm 119:9,11 in which King David says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word…. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

 

Meditate. Finally, we have meditation. This isn’t mindless repetition of some mystical mantra, or emptying one’s mind. It’s deeply pondering a specific passage, striving to draw as much insight and understanding from it as you can. Kind of like a cow chewing its cud over and over, seeking to get as much nutrition out of it as possible. This is addressed in Psalm 1:2, which describes a “blessed” man whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

 

Do you desire to get a grip on the Word of God, to become a ‘person of the Book’? Then make every effort to hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate. Over time you’ll find the truths of the Scriptures becoming part of you more and more.

Resolving Not to Make Any More Resolutions

We’ve nearly reached the end of the year, and across the country millions of people either have or will be making resolutions for the New Year. These will range from losing weight to getting their anger under control to whittling down debt to spending less time on their smartphones. The problem is, resolutions rarely work.

Say, for instance, you resolve to lose 15 pounds. After the first of the year you start working out, cut back on eating “the good stuff,” and actually make a lot of progress, shedding maybe 10 pounds. Then you have a close encounter with the Cheesecake Factory or a similar establishment, and almost overnight find you’ve gained back five of those lost pounds. The biggest problem with losing weight, after all, is that it’s so easily found. In frustration, you mutter, “Well, forget that!”

Or you resolve to become an advocate for world peace, but then have a loud argument with your spouse. Rather than a peacemaker, you show yourself to be a peace-breaker. “Stick it in your ear, world peace!”

My solution to such resolution failures is simple: Don’t make resolutions. Instead, I set goals. For example, years ago a friend gave me a one-year chronological Bible, and last year I set a goal to finally get around to reading it through. I started the year off well, keeping pace with the daily readings, but then fell behind a week or so for some reason. If it had been merely a resolution, I might have said, “I quit!” 

But since it was a goal for the entire year, I pressed on, reading an extra section or two from time to time, and got caught up. At some points I even got a few days ahead in my readings. There were a couple of other setbacks along the way, but now I’m just a few days short of reaching my goal. Next I’ll have to decide how to structure my Bible reading and study in the New Year.

Years ago, I learned three things about goals: They should be 1) realistic, 2) measurable, and 3) attainable. For instance, even in my younger years I was too big to be a jockey, so aiming to ride the winner of the Kentucky Derby would have made no sense. But I can set a goal of doing vigorous cardio workouts at least three times a week. Realistic. Measurable. Attainable.

Let’s shift our goal focus to the spiritual realm. The Scriptures speak a surprising amount about goals. For instance, the apostle Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). His life’s focus was on Jesus Christ, and his consuming goal was to remain faithful to His call.

Paul, who had a penchant for using athletic metaphors to teach spiritual truth, told believers in the ancient church in Corinth, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Okay, his goal was to win the race – essentially to be the last man standing at the end. But how did Paul intend to accomplish that? Discipline.

He proceeded to write, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever…. I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27). Like a well-trained athlete, the apostle determined not to let physical desires and lusts sidetrack him from fulfilling his goal of pleasing and honoring his Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

How we pursue a similar goal is up to the individual. It’s like the question, “When is it best to have a quiet time?” – setting apart a portion of the day for Bible study, prayer and meditation. The answer is, “whenever works for you on a consistent, daily basis.” The point is, personal time alone with God is a worthwhile goal; how and when to do it is up to our discretion.

One worthy goal mentioned in the Scriptures is one that seems woefully out of step with our noisy, turbulent times and culture. Paul exhorted Christ followers in the Greek city of Thessalonica, “Make it your ambition [goal] to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

There’s a lot we could unpack from this passage, but basically the goal is to live in a respectful, God-honoring manner that proves attractive to those outside the faith. After all, God did command us to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), not only physically but also spiritually.

So, while the making of resolutions seems a popular pastime at this point in the year, I’d suggest that setting reasonable goals are a far better approach. That way you can pursue them year-long, and if you mess up or unwittingly take a detour, you can stop, dust yourself off and reset your course, keeping the ultimate goal in sight: to please and bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, who achieved His own goals to teach, die on the cross, and rise from the dead so that He might offer a new life to us through His Spirit.

Start formulating your realistic, measurable and attainable goals so that by the end of next year you can be like the soccer announcers who scream, “Goooooooooal!”