Attention, please

Comedian, producer, and perpetual sound-byte machine Woody Allen once told an interviewer that after taking a speed reading course he was able to finish “War and Peace” in five minutes. When asked about how much he remembered, Allen responded, “the Russian revolution, and that’s about it.”

Even if we haven’t taken a speed reading course, we often gloss over content. We don’t have the time, energy, or interest to read every word from every sign, advertisement, or book that we encounter. Unfortunately, this bleeds over into the time we spend in the Bible.

There is a lot in scripture, and pastors who have been at it for decades and decades still discover new things as the Holy Spirit moves in their lives. However, that can be a testimony to the depths of scripture. More often people are in church their whole lives, read the Bible on a regular basis, and just gloss over important and stimulating content.

If we focus, we encounter passages that cause us to think through our theology:

“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 5:5

Examine practices in the faith:

“God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.” Acts 19:11-12

Consider every part of history:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:2

Our time in the Word of God should look and feel different than when we read the paper, scan Facebook, or follow the scroll on the bottom of ESPN. God uses the Holy Spirit to illuminate His Word as we open ourselves to His working.