Being Mindful, Being Christian by Joanna Collicutt

Author:Joanna Collicutt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lion Hudson
Published: 2016-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

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Reading the Bible is one area of Christian living where mindful-like attention can therefore be very helpful, particularly if we are reading the Bible as a devotional or prayerful activity. Interestingly, the Bible itself has quite a bit to say on how it is to be read. Various passages in the Old and New Testaments tell us that the Word of God as preserved in Scripture is not to be glanced over briefly like a trashy novel, or ticked off on the to-do list of a daily study chart. The Bible is to be considered, pondered, and inwardly digested. If prayer is like spiritual breath, then reading the Bible is spiritual food.

This attitude of devotion to the Bible is evident in Jesus. Some scholars have speculated that the book of Deuteronomy was Jesus’ favourite book in the Hebrew canon. Not only is it referenced, or at least implied, frequently in the New Testament, but it is the words of Deuteronomy that we find on the lips of Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness. Three times he responds to insidious satanic temptation with words from Deuteronomy. When it came to the crunch, these were the words Jesus reached for to resist the derailment of his ministry.

When asked to identify the greatest commandment, Jesus turns like all good Jews to the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. The people of Israel were to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, souls, and strength. It is an instruction immediately followed by the requirement to immerse themselves entirely in the laws outlining the way of life God intended for them. Their love for God was to be maintained by their knowledge of his word.

In terms of reading the Bible, therefore, it is in Deuteronomy that we first find practical instruction for leaders of the Jewish nation. Following coronation, a new king was to take the time to write out the entire book of the Law – probably the whole of Deuteronomy rather than the entire Torah. And while we have no biblical record of any Jewish king having performed this, it could be that the rediscovery of this practice is what lay behind the religious reforms during the reign of Josiah (1 Kings 23:19– 24). It should be remembered that writing was an advanced technology in the ancient world, not many people could do it, and the process was costly and time-consuming. The instruction in Deuteronomy is therefore suggesting that new rulers take significant time and expense to learn line by line the demands of the Jewish law. They were to dedicate concentration and attention to the commands of God as a way of absorbing them into their being.

In less elaborate ways, therefore, the practice imposed on Jewish kings can be equally fruitful for contemporary Christians. Setting aside time over weeks or even months to write or type out some part of the Bible can bring the Bible to life for us. Mindfully copying, for example, every verse of John’s Gospel,

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