To ponder is another temptation when reading the Bible. It is strange that when we read fast, we cannot stop our mind, but when we read slowly, we often ponder. For example, when we read, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” we begin to consider what the beginning refers to and how many places the heavens and the earth include. We may consider different things and draw analogies. This is a great hindrance to our fellowship. Therefore, we should exercise not to ponder. Does this sound strange? We do not need to understand, research, study, read fast, read much, or ponder in order to fellowship through reading the Bible.
On one hand, reading the Bible in this way is spontaneous, but on the other hand, it may not be so easy. Can we come to the Bible without intending to understand or to research and study? Can we come without haste or the desire to read too much or too little? Can we instead read spontaneously and not ponder over the word? If we practice these things over a period of time, we will find that it is not easy. I do not believe that out of one hundred believers, three know how to fellowship with God in this way. Someone may occasionally touch God in fellowship through reading the Bible, but he cannot constantly and confidently have good fellowship with God whenever he reads the Bible. This inadequacy shows that there is a need for more practice.
When I was young, I was taught an ancient Chinese exercise called the “eight-section medley,” which is a kind of calisthenics. When I was first shown how to do it, I thought that it was easy. But when I began to practice, I found that it was not easy. A few years ago, when I was in a workers’ home in Manila, a young brother saw me practicing the eight-section medley. He also thought that it was easy and asked me to teach him. But as I taught him the exercise, he realized that it was not so easy or simple to learn. The exercise is a spontaneous and slow-motion type of calisthenics, but it requires much practice. In the same way, we should not think that it is easy to read the Bible in the way of fellowship. It may be easy to read a newspaper, but it is not easy to read the Bible. There are two difficulties in reading the Bible. First, it is not easy to understand the Bible and receive something from it. Second, it is not easy to fellowship with God through reading the Bible. These points are not related to reading the Bible for understanding but to reading the Bible for fellowship with God. Both ways of reading the Bible require practice. It would be very good for a believer to practice both aspects of reading the Bible.
We sincerely hope that every new believer will learn how to fellowship with God through reading the Bible. Every time they sit down to read God’s word, they should consider the four “nots,” that is, not trying to understand, not studying or researching, not reading too fast or too much, and not pondering. It is not necessary to understand, to study, to read fast, to read much, or to ponder. We should let go of these things and only fellowship with God in a simple and spontaneous way through reading the Bible. I say once again that this is not easy, and it requires much practice.
The previous four points are things that we should not do; now we must consider things that we should do.
We need to have the intention to seek the Lord and contact Him. Our intention is not to understand the Bible but to seek and contact the Lord. We come to the Bible in order to contact the living God, not read dead letters.
The Lord is in His Word, and the Lord Himself is the Word. A person can touch the Lord in two places—the Word and the Spirit. The Lord is in the Word, and the Lord is the Word. The Lord is also in the Spirit, and He is the Spirit. We thank Him that we have the Word outside of us and the Spirit inside of us. We have the Lord’s Word in our hand, and we have the Lord’s Spirit in our spirit. These are the two places where we can contact the Lord. Even though the Lord is omnipresent, invisible, and intangible, we can surely locate Him in these two places. We can say that the Lord is in His Word and that the Lord is in the Spirit. We can also say that the Lord is the Word and that the Lord is the Spirit. We can contact Him only in these two places. On the one hand, we come to His Word, and on the other hand, we come to the Spirit. Therefore, when we read the Bible for fellowship, our concept should never be that we are merely reading a book or some words. Our concept should be that we are contacting the Lord Himself, because we know that the Lord is in the Word and also that He is the Word.
We should read the Bible slowly in order to give our spirit the opportunity to contact the words in the Bible. This is related to the earlier entreaty to not study, not research, not read fast, and not ponder so that we can touch the words in the Bible with our spirit.
New believers may ask, “What does it mean to use our spirit?” Let me explain with an example. When conversing with those close to us, whether our parents, children, husbands, or wives, what the mind understands is not as important as how much the emotion functions and is contacted. We speak with our emotion; we touch and contact the words with our emotion. In the same principle, when fellowshipping with God through reading His Word, it is not important to understand, study, or ponder with our mind but to contact and touch God with our spirit.
Reading with our spirit does not necessarily mean that we read only a short portion. It is possible to read three chapters in fifteen minutes without being too fast or too slow and without pondering over the contents. Sometimes after reading in this way, it seems as if I am not very clear about what I have read, but I feel as if I have taken a bath. Although no water remains on our body after we take a bath, there is a difference between taking a bath and not taking one. In the same way, if we contact the Lord’s Word with our spirit, though it may seem as if nothing remains in our mind, the feeling in the spirit is very different.
We fellowship with God with our inner man, not with our outer man. The outer man is in the mind, but the inner man is in the spirit. When we fellowship with God and contact His Word in this way, we should read the letter with our mind outwardly, but we should contact the Lord’s Word with our spirit. We should always have the intention to touch God Himself and not care for understanding or retention. Only in this way can we have good fellowship with God.
Therefore, I recommend that we have two ways of reading the Bible—one for fellowship and one for understanding. When reading for understanding, we need to exercise our mind. Although our mental capacity may not be large, the more our capacity, the better. It would be best if our capacity was greater than Solomon’s and larger than the ocean. We also need to have a good collection of reference books. The more reference books we use in our time of study, the better. This is the way to read the Bible for understanding. The way to read the Bible for fellowship, however, is different because we do not understand the Word with our mind but contact the Word with our spirit. Whether or not we understand is not the point, neither is whether or not we remember. We should simply exercise our spirit to have good contact with God in His Word. This is to contact the Bible with the spirit.