Last time I touched on using the imagination as you meditate on Scripture, using the story of 12-year-old Jesus talking with the religious leaders in Luke 2 as an example. I said that part of the problem when reading this and other passages is that you know the story so well that you skim over it when it comes up in church or in your daily reading. The “details” of the story are finite; there are no more facts to be gleaned. Why focus too much attention on the story again?
But reading for facts is only one way of looking at Scripture. Some people have a (sometimes fairly deep) knowledge of the Bible yet obviously have never appropriated it to their lives. You have probably met one or two. These individuals can often be found on college campuses or sitting in Starbucks as they philosophize about politics, religion, etc. For these people such knowledge is superficial—they have enough for a debate yet their lives lack any spiritual wisdom. Scripture has no personal meaning for them.
The Bible itself describes Scripture as “alive and active and sharper than a double-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). THIS is the Word we want to intersect our lives if we are truly interested in a relationship with God. (There’s a whole sermon there…ask the Holy Spirit to “preach” it to you!) And this is where using the imagination comes in—learning to interact with Scripture in a way that more readily connects you with the meaning behind the words and the Holy Spirit that inspired them.
I understand that to some this may sound like manipulation. “Spiritual growth is God’s work, I’m just along for the ride.” If this describes you, hopefully an illustration (albeit imperfect) will help:
My brother and I learned to sail sabots in junior high school at the (then Boy Scout) Sea Base in Newport Beach, CA. Each lesson included a lecture from the instructor plus a review of material we were expected to read before that session. But the real teacher was getting out in the boat and learning by trial and error how to harness the wind. Too little wind in my sails left me stranded in the middle of the bay. Too much wind in my sails could fling me across the Bay in lightning speed, or capsize me. The trick was to learn how to let the sail out, or pull the sail in, just enough in order to move me forward in the water in a controlled manner. Being at the helm of the boat meant I was never just along for the ride…I was an active participant in reaching my destination.
I’m sure you see where this is going. The wind can be likened to the Holy Spirit…in fact Jesus alluded to this when talking with Nicodemus in John 3 about people who are enlivened by the Spirit (“Born again”). And while we cannot “harness” the Holy Spirit as a sailboat harnesses the wind, we can make ourselves more available or open to the Holy Spirit’s tugging and knocking and pleading and beseeching in our lives. And rest assured—just as the wind blows, the Spirit of God is reaching out to you in all the ways mentioned above. Yes, you. God wants a meaningful relationship with you, but He has given you free will to use as you desire. You have authority over your own heart to say yes to God and the interaction He longs to have with you, or say no and impede any connection with God (remember Pharaoh and the Exodus?). So the question is, will you be open and available? Will you open your inner sails to the Holy Spirit blowing into your life?