Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
Luke 24:45 (ESV)
Often, I get so focused on this daily life and the materialness of the world around me that I lose sight of the spiritual necessity for my heart to be refocused and aligned with the purposes of God. It is easy to get caught up in a daily life that becomes routine or habitual. A life that becomes less attuned to the things of God and more focused on myself. Even in the small way of reading the Bible. It is a good thing to read the Bible each and every day. It is a good thing to have a reading plan to systematically go through the entirety of Scripture for the purpose of godliness. It is a beautiful thing to come to the Bible with the intention of knowing Christ better and more intimately. I can do all these things, yet miss one key element. I can miss the necessity of having my mind opened by Christ so that I can understand the Scriptures. My tendency is to jump in to read God’s Word and use my mind in my own strength to understand. Yet, I am reminded in this passage that I must have the gracious touch of Jesus upon my mind if I am to understand. I need my Savior to reveal himself to me every time I come before His Word.
Even this morning as I look back on my Bible reading I can see my lack of asking the Lord to reveal himself to me. I can see my heart wanting to develop this routine of habitual Bible reading and reflection. I want to pursue reflective times in God’s Word so that I can meet with him and learn from him. Yet, I did not acknowledge my need beforehand. I simply opened the Bible and started reading. The Lord was gracious to me and opened my mind to understand and contemplate what I was reading, but my heart was not truly prepared to understand the Scriptures. My intent, whether stated or not, was to read the Bible and meditate.
Even as I write this, I can see the goodness of God’s grace working through my intentions. There was a deep heartfelt desire to know Christ through my time in his Word and the Lord honored my intention. I see the need to be more intentional. I see the need to prepare myself for these meditative moments of reflection. The temptation is always there to just read and understand God’s Word in my own strength. The enemy would love nothing more than for me to seek Jesus in my own strength and wisdom. No, I need to prepare my heart for worship.
For worship is what I am after. I am not after gaining some knowledge to puff me up. I am not after some experience I can use to make myself feel spiritually adequate. I am after Jesus. If I am after Jesus, then I need to be about having my mind opened by him to understand the Scriptures. I need to take a moment before each time and offer up my intentions before the Lord. I need to humble my heart and present myself as a vessel before the Lord. I need to ask the Savior to come and open my heart and mind to the truths of His Word. I need to ask my Lord to fill me with the Spirit. I need him to meet with me, reveal himself to me, change me, and pull me closer to him. All the while, giving me a heart of worship. A heart that is captured and enthralled by the love of my Father in Christ through the Spirit.