It seems like I read for a living. From the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed at night, the majority of my day is spent in front of my computer screen reading or writing. I suppose I read at least a hundred news or opinion pieces each day as well as several dozen technical entries. I even read from my Treo while waiting in restaurants or airports or when riding in the car.
I’m paid to answer people’s questions all day so I do a lot of email – receiving hundreds each day and sometime writing as many. As you can imagine I sometimes get a little burned out on reading. I enjoy the challenge of answering questions but keeping up with what is going on in the world can be tiresome because it is always changing, especially in the world of technology.
I guess that’s why I enjoy the time I spend in the scriptures. The scriptures are static. They don’t change. I can trust them. I rely on them. They are old friends and have always been there for me. My current set is not as marked up as my old one because it is still relatively new. As I mark them I notice a familiar pattern – I tend to mark the same keywords in my new scriptures as I did in my old ones.
I said the scriptures are static. I mean that only in the sense that the words on the page do not change. In reality, the scriptures provide the most dynamic reading I do each day. I come away from reading them refreshed and invigorated. No, I can’t explain it. I have been taught all my life that reading the scriptures daily brings revelation. Personal experience has proved that to be so.
When I was younger the Lord favored me with some sacred experiences in prayer that have remained with me all my life. I was just learning for myself how revelation works then. For me, it takes a lot of fasting and many hours of prayer with purpose to achieve a state of mind and spirit where I can say that I am in tune with the mind and will of the Lord. It was, and still is hard work.
Today, I find that I can achieve that same state of mind and receive that same spirit after only a few minutes in the scriptures. Some days it takes more – maybe a half hour to an hour. But most days, the Lord is merciful to me and sends his spirit of peace to comfort my soul after reading only a few verses. By the end of the chapter I feel all my troubles and cares are gone.
Is it a miracle? Yes, of course it is. Am I just brainwashing myself into thinking I am at peace? Who cares? The feeling is real and it’s the result of revelation. Immersing oneself in the scriptures is a real thing. When we read the scriptures we are really immersing ourselves in the spirit of revelation and washing our souls. It’s as if we are being baptized and cleansed daily.
What do you think? Are your experiences with scripture reading similar?
