Over the Christmas holidays I had the opportunity to drink lots of coffee and read some books, one of the books I stumbled upon was "The Divine Mentor" by Wayne Cordeir. It turned out to be one of the best books I have read this year. As I read through it I was deeply challenged by his convictions and passion for God’s Word. Wayne has a couple of thoughts in his book that I found valuable. One of the specific thoughts that he talked about in his book that was thought provoking was about mentorship. Many believers are in search of guidance and mentorship from older and wiser people who have journeyed through the ups and downs of life with a consistent faith and commitment to Christ. However, many of us have a hard time finding those people and when we do it is difficult to find time to get all the mentorship we would like.
Wayne wonders why believers don’t seek out the counsel of the Bible where the mentors are just waiting to teach you and me. These mentors have great wisdom and all the time in the world to walk with us on life’s journey. Why not let Solomon walk with you as you decide how to use your finances. Let John teach you how to love your neighbour. Let Joseph show you how to handle victory and defeat and let Job teach you how to grieve. The fact is there are mentors waiting for each one of us, will you allow them to teach you?
The second thought that grabbed me is his love for the Bible and desire for people to know and understand it. He quoted from Amos 8:11, which says, "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD." We are beginning to recognize this very thing in our context of ministry. Many of our students do not read the Bible and have little idea of major Bible stories. We are beginning to believe that famine has already arrived amongst our teens. Cordeiro says, "If the devil can keep our teens and families away from the Word, he steals the Father’s main tool for fruitfulness in our lives." If we are going to be effective disciples of Christ, God’s Word has to be a part of our DNA. Without it our journey of faith is rendered ineffective.
There are many reasons we struggle as believers in spending time with Jesus daily. One of those reasons should not be that we don’t know how to read our Bible. The following will give you an idea of what your time reading the Bible could look like:
Make sure you have a pen
Bring a Journal with you
Keep a day planner nearby (To record any unrelated thoughts that come to mind)
Dust off your Bible
Choose a Bible reading plan (A Bible reading plan is a day to day recommendation for what you should read. These Bible reading plans will attempt to give you each day’s reading so that you can read through the whole Bible in one year. Wayne’s "Life Journal" reading plan is available on the CrossRoads Mobile App.)
Then as you sit down to read, open your journal or grab a notepad and do the following: First began by asking Jesus to speak to you through what you are about to read. Next, read a chapter or whatever is allotted from the Bible reading plan and pick a passage of Scripture to focus on. Then write it down. Write down some observations or questions you find in your specific passage that you have written. Next, take some time to really think about and write about how this passage specifically applies to your life and what Jesus would have you do about what you have read. Finally, pray that the Lord would use what you have read to transform your heart. Take a little time to be silent and ask Jesus if there is anything else He would like to communicate to you for your day in light of what you have read.
I wonder what would occur in our lives if we would allow the Bible to mentor us and for the characters and writers of the Bible to speak into our lives. I guess we will only find out if we try. In the next couple days I encourage you to put this into practice. The process is as easy as remembering SOAP. Start with some Bible reading: S-Scripture. Then move on to taking some notes: O-Observation. Next it’s time for reflection on how this applies to your life: A-Application and finally spend a little time in prayer: P-Prayer. I hope that this process will enrich your times with Jesus and speak to your soul.
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