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Welcome to Day 1469 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to WisdomBible Study \u2013 Attention To Detail \u2013 Meditation MondayWisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge.\xa0Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy.\xa0Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1469 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday.\xa0Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.\xa0For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection.\xa0You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God\u2019s Word and in prayer.\xa0It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body.\xa0As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.\xa0
We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser.\xa0Our current insights are focusing on study habits to build a strong foundation. Today let us meditate on:
Bible Study \u2013 Attention to Detail\xb7\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0Insight Seventeen: The Guidance of the Spirit Is Neither a Remedy nor an Excuse for Lackluster Bible StudyIf you\u2019ve watched a baseball or football game on television at some point this century, there\u2019s no doubt you\u2019ve seen players either ask God for success or thank him for it. Athletes today regularly do things like point to the heavens after crossing home plate or finding themselves in the end zone. Some will bow in a short prayer. It\u2019s a nice sentiment and, for many, a testimony that transcends a token gesture.
Let\u2019s be honest. Unless that football player gets in shape and memorizes the playbook, all the pointing to heaven in the world isn\u2019t going to lead to success. You can say a short prayer on the mound or in the batter\u2019s box, but unless you can hit the strike zone or a curveball, you\u2019re going to fail. Pretty badly, in fact.
It\u2019s the same in Bible study. All too often, people who sincerely want the feeling of knowing Scripture aren\u2019t willing to put in the time it takes to get there. Instead, they\u2019ll take short cuts and then expect the Spirit to take up the slack. The assumption seems to be that the promise of the Spirit to guide us into truth means the third person of the Trinity will excuse a lack of effort and give us the answers we need. The analogy that comes to my mind when I hear that is a little disturbing. The Spirit isn\u2019t the kid sitting next to you in high school that lets you cheat off their exam. You must do your own work.
Setting aside for the moment the fact that passages like John 16:13 really aren\u2019t about personal Bible study, the truth is that God expects effort in the pursuit of truth. The Spirit of God works in our hearts and minds, which are the terms Scripture uses for our intellectual faculties (i.e., our brains). He generally makes use of the content you\u2019ve put there (in your mind) in your pursuit of the truths of Scripture. There\u2019s no mental download from heaven coming. Rather than substitute the Spirit for personal effort, my advice is this: as you do the hard work of Bible study, ask the Spirit for insight to expose flawed thinking (your own or whoever you\u2019re reading) and for the right questions to ask about the biblical text. The more of God\u2019s Word you\u2019ve devoted attention to, the more the Spirit can help you recall for understanding....