This from Mike Sr.:
Everytime I read from the pages of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography I am overtaken by a certain sense of sadness. Perhaps I have fallen under the spell of that great man's well crafted image as a man of kindly reason and general good will. He was, after all, the consummate self-made man. Perhaps the chief product of such labors was this rustic reasonable public persona that quietly smiles upon us from the historic portraits now hung in our nation's hallowed halls. I wouldn't be the first to so succomb to this affable image of bonhomme. Norman Cousins, one of America's greatest men of letters, described Franklin thus: He was rounded in interests without being polished; aristocratic in intellect without being undemocratic in thought; daring in ideas without being impractical in their execution; perennially youthful in outlook but consistently mature in approach. The Republic of Reason , New York: Harper & Row, 1958, p. 16
Why such sadness then? Primarily it is because the great man came so close to the gospel. At least so he would have us believe. Yet he remained to his dying day uncommitted to its message. A few weeks before his death at 84 in 1790, Franklin replied to a letter addressed to him by the President of Yale University, Ezra Stiles. Evidently Stiles had inquired as to Franklin's faith. Franklin wrote: "As to Jesus of Nazareth I have... some doubts as to his divinity though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble."
This is heartbreaking. The Christian knows too well the trouble that awaits an indifferent soul in eternity. Another sad note in Franklin's account of his life was sounded in the familiar comments on his friendship with the great evangelist, George Whitefield. They were good friends. Franklin said that he did not doubt Whitefield, who died 20 years before Franklin, prayed for his soul every day of his life. "But," Franklin observed, "to no avail." Perhaps the saddest aspect of Benjamin Franklin's failure to believe lies in these many connections with evangelical Christians. Charles Hodge, the noted Princeton theologian, married Franklin's great-great granddaughter and the features of Franklin can be seen almost eerily in the photos of their son, Archibald. The American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, only a generation removed from Franklin, wrote: "for all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been." I suppose this sums up my melancholy over Benjamin Franklin. What might have been? Franklin's strongest ties to Christianity lay in his family's heritage of faith. From the pages of his autobiography we read: "This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and continued Protestants through the reign of Mary, when they were sometimes in danger of trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They had got an English Bible, and to conceal and secure it, it was fastened upon with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great grandfather read it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the apparitor who was an officer of the spiritual court. In that cast the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before."
What happened to Franklin's faith? I can only hazard a guess that comes from the counsel of God's Word. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Somewhere along the roadside of his long and illustrious life the Evil One snatched away the Word of God from the mind of Benjamin Franklin. Once taken it could not be restored. And as great a mind as Franklin's remained unrepentant and unbelieving to the very end. How sad! How frightening! No wonder we are commanded over and over again to guard, protect, and regularly attend to the Word of God. To cite an old proverb that I found written on the fly leaf of my first Bible: "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book." A final footnote. Perhaps my maudlin sentiment is overly indulgent and too romantic. My sadness over Franklin's admissions is greater than any he ever expressed. After all, I can no more know the heart of Benjamin Franklin than I could any man's heart other than my own. I must ask myself, then, what is the reason for my remorse? Perhaps the truth is found in the words of Gerard Manly Hopkins. Hopkins wrote of seeing a young girl weep over the falling leaves of autumn. He asked "Margaret why are you weeping?" and concluded the young girls tears were common to us all. "It was," he said, "the blight man was born for. It is Margaret that you mourn for." My sorrow, I suppose, is less for Benjamin Franklin's loss of faith and more for the threat to myself and all my loved ones, if we do not attend daily to the hearing of the Word of God. It is as though God were saying "if this can happen to the greatest of men, what chance have you apart from my grace?" May God, the only sovereign creator and sustainer of life, keep me and my beloved ones ever and always in that place where he can bless us. May he keep us in his word.
Showing posts with label reading the word of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading the word of God. Show all posts
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A Quiet Time
When I was a new believer 44 years ago those who discipled me in the Lord Jesus urged me to have what they called a "quiet time" with the Lord every day. I will always be grateful to these wonderful saints many of whom were in their eighties then and still vigorous in their love for the Lord. I'm so thankful for those who insisted that time by myself with the Lord every day should be a priority in my new life in the Lord. I remember reading a little pamphlet which listed all of the places in the Bible encouraging this for the morning and since I am a morning person, I began to get up early to spend time with the Lord. Since I had no idea how this sort of thing should go, it was helpful to see how other Christians ordered their time with the Lord. So – I will tell you what I have tried to do over the years in the hope that it will be helpful to you.
1. Read the Word. It was suggested to me that if I read 4 chapters a day I would read the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in a year so I began to do this and have continued it all these years. At first I simply read 4 chapters in a row – starting with Genesis 1-4 - a good place to begin. I began to keep a notebook handy to jot down something from each chapter as read. No long drawn out notes, just something that stood out. This keeps your mind from drifting off into neverland while you're reading Leviticus and the way to take care of a running sore. The second read through or so, I decided to read chapters from different sections of the Bible. For example, on January 1st (assuming I had kept to the schedule the previous year and read Revelation 22 on December 31st which I don't think has ever happened), I would read one chapter from the books of Moses, starting with Genesis 1, with intention to continue through the history of Israel ending with Nehemiah. I would then read one chapter from the poetic books starting with Job 1 and continuing through Song of Solomon. Next would be a chapter from the prophets starting with Isaiah 1 and reading through to Malachi. I would then read a chapter from the New Testament starting with Matthew 1. If I have time I add a 5th chapter and divide the New Testament reading the gospels and Acts and then a chapter from the letters. The wonderful payback of this is that I began to see themes through these disparate chapters as I read and jotted down a quick note from each. Several years ago someone put out a chronological bible and reading now and then has been helpful in seeing the sweep of God's plan in history. I still have trouble remembering which prophet went with which king but I'm working on it. Use a bible which doesn't leave out portions of Scripture because it may be repeated in another place – you don't want to rely on that sort of editing. Christy Neal is reading NIV's The One Year Chronological Bible and says it is laid out across the page in a way she finds easy to read. Gretchen Fleming has been an encouragement to all of us to read chronologically together and Jo An Smidley organizes a time to discuss together so watch the bulletin for this.
I don't like notes and commentary in my bible – it distracts me from the word. Remember if there is commentary you have to make sure it is accurate and not distortion of the word. This can be difficult if you are new to the word as well as distracting and time consuming. Make sure you are reading an actual translation of the Bible not a paraphrase.
Don't check your brain at the door when you read. The word will become its own commentary as you read. Don't forget that as you read you have the Holy Spirit looking over your shoulder (or are you looking over His?) He will guide you into all truth. Spurgeon writes, "The mind wearies of one thing and we have therefore studied variety…" This year we are reading through the King James again and the beauty of the language ministers to me so much.
2. Pray the Word. As I read the word, I find my spirit wanting to pray according to the word. I've found it helpful to write these prayer notes in the margin of my notebook and then take the time to pray through them for my family and for the needs of the day after the bible reading.
3. Memorize the Word. Pick a verse, a paragraph, a chapter and start learning it by heart. Remember John 14:20 "He that has my Word and keeps it, this is the one who loves me…" Jesus is telling us to hide God's word in our hearts.
4. Meditate on the Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with the Word – to remind you of it all day long. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:1-3 (RSV)
Jill Mattox told us she likes to have a devotional commentary to read with her thru the Bible time– she mentioned Streams in the Desert. Kay Arthur's little book on the names of God is good as well. One year I read Matthew Henry's commentary on each chapter which was too much for the devotional time. I try to keep the extra reading simple – it starts to crowd out the word but it can be helpful in jump-starting your soul devotionally.
Charles H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening is wonderful and never fails to spark my flagging spirit. Let me end this with his comment on morning devotions:
"Morning exercises have ever been dear to enlightened, heaven loving souls, and it has been their rule never to see the face of man till they have first seen the face of God … The first hour of every morning should be dedicated to the Lord, whose mercy gladdens it with golden light. The eye of day openeth its lids, and in so doing opens the eyes of hosts of heaven-protected slumberers: it is fitting that those eyes should first look up to the great Father of Lights, the fount and source of all the good upon which the sunlight gleams…
Morning devotion anchors the soul so that it will not very readily drift far away from God during the day: the morning is the gate of the day, and should be well guarded with prayer. It is one end of the thread on which the day's actions are strung, and should be well knotted with devotion. If we felt more the majesty of life, we should be more careful of its mornings. He who rushes from his bed to his business and waits not to worship is as foolish as though he had not put on his clothes, or cleansed his face, and as unwise as though he dashed into battle without arms or armor."
1. Read the Word. It was suggested to me that if I read 4 chapters a day I would read the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in a year so I began to do this and have continued it all these years. At first I simply read 4 chapters in a row – starting with Genesis 1-4 - a good place to begin. I began to keep a notebook handy to jot down something from each chapter as read. No long drawn out notes, just something that stood out. This keeps your mind from drifting off into neverland while you're reading Leviticus and the way to take care of a running sore. The second read through or so, I decided to read chapters from different sections of the Bible. For example, on January 1st (assuming I had kept to the schedule the previous year and read Revelation 22 on December 31st which I don't think has ever happened), I would read one chapter from the books of Moses, starting with Genesis 1, with intention to continue through the history of Israel ending with Nehemiah. I would then read one chapter from the poetic books starting with Job 1 and continuing through Song of Solomon. Next would be a chapter from the prophets starting with Isaiah 1 and reading through to Malachi. I would then read a chapter from the New Testament starting with Matthew 1. If I have time I add a 5th chapter and divide the New Testament reading the gospels and Acts and then a chapter from the letters. The wonderful payback of this is that I began to see themes through these disparate chapters as I read and jotted down a quick note from each. Several years ago someone put out a chronological bible and reading now and then has been helpful in seeing the sweep of God's plan in history. I still have trouble remembering which prophet went with which king but I'm working on it. Use a bible which doesn't leave out portions of Scripture because it may be repeated in another place – you don't want to rely on that sort of editing. Christy Neal is reading NIV's The One Year Chronological Bible and says it is laid out across the page in a way she finds easy to read. Gretchen Fleming has been an encouragement to all of us to read chronologically together and Jo An Smidley organizes a time to discuss together so watch the bulletin for this.
I don't like notes and commentary in my bible – it distracts me from the word. Remember if there is commentary you have to make sure it is accurate and not distortion of the word. This can be difficult if you are new to the word as well as distracting and time consuming. Make sure you are reading an actual translation of the Bible not a paraphrase.
Don't check your brain at the door when you read. The word will become its own commentary as you read. Don't forget that as you read you have the Holy Spirit looking over your shoulder (or are you looking over His?) He will guide you into all truth. Spurgeon writes, "The mind wearies of one thing and we have therefore studied variety…" This year we are reading through the King James again and the beauty of the language ministers to me so much.
2. Pray the Word. As I read the word, I find my spirit wanting to pray according to the word. I've found it helpful to write these prayer notes in the margin of my notebook and then take the time to pray through them for my family and for the needs of the day after the bible reading.
3. Memorize the Word. Pick a verse, a paragraph, a chapter and start learning it by heart. Remember John 14:20 "He that has my Word and keeps it, this is the one who loves me…" Jesus is telling us to hide God's word in our hearts.
4. Meditate on the Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with the Word – to remind you of it all day long. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:1-3 (RSV)
Jill Mattox told us she likes to have a devotional commentary to read with her thru the Bible time– she mentioned Streams in the Desert. Kay Arthur's little book on the names of God is good as well. One year I read Matthew Henry's commentary on each chapter which was too much for the devotional time. I try to keep the extra reading simple – it starts to crowd out the word but it can be helpful in jump-starting your soul devotionally.
Charles H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening is wonderful and never fails to spark my flagging spirit. Let me end this with his comment on morning devotions:
"Morning exercises have ever been dear to enlightened, heaven loving souls, and it has been their rule never to see the face of man till they have first seen the face of God … The first hour of every morning should be dedicated to the Lord, whose mercy gladdens it with golden light. The eye of day openeth its lids, and in so doing opens the eyes of hosts of heaven-protected slumberers: it is fitting that those eyes should first look up to the great Father of Lights, the fount and source of all the good upon which the sunlight gleams…
Morning devotion anchors the soul so that it will not very readily drift far away from God during the day: the morning is the gate of the day, and should be well guarded with prayer. It is one end of the thread on which the day's actions are strung, and should be well knotted with devotion. If we felt more the majesty of life, we should be more careful of its mornings. He who rushes from his bed to his business and waits not to worship is as foolish as though he had not put on his clothes, or cleansed his face, and as unwise as though he dashed into battle without arms or armor."
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