The hand bone's connected to the... spiritual growth.

In part 3 of his series on having a quiet time, Ed Luebe used the Navigator's Hand illustration to describe five key elements of learning from God's Word. (To avoid stepping on the Navigators' toes, I'll simply provide the link to the illustration, but describe some examples of each element we discussed.

Five Elements of Learning from the Word

1. Hearing the Word. (Romans 10:17)
   


• Location: Pinky finger (a.k.a. The little piggy who went "Wee, wee, wee!" all the way home).
• Examples: Hearing a sermon on the radio, listening to Christian music, Pastor Bob's sermons.


2. Reading the Word. (Revelation 1:3)
   
   
   • Location: Ring finger.
   • Example: A "Read the Bible in a Year" plan.


3. Studying the Word. (Acts 17:11)
   
   
   • Location: Right down the middle.
   • Examples: Bible studies, using online resources, commentaries, concordances for greater insight.
   
   
4. Memorize the Word (Psalm 119:9,11)
   
   
   • Location:The index finger (a.k.a. the little piggy who stayed home.)
     
   • Example: Using the Topical Memory System or some other means of memorizing verses.


5. Meditating on the Word (Psalm 1:2-3)
   
   
   • Location: The thumb. Or as Fonzy would say, "Ehhhhh!"
   • Example: Putting verse notecards in prominent places, reexamining and thinking over verses.

In conclusion, Ed pointed out that the thumb (meditation), plays a vital role in helping us grasp tightly to Truth.

We then offered up some ideas for having a quiet time:

• Change it up regularly
• Or, stick with structure!
• Choose a good time for you
• Make it portable (such as on a Smart phone)
• Set a goal (such as reading through the Bible)
• Prepare in advance
• Try the Navigators' 7 Minutes With God

Do you have any tips for spending time with God?

The Wheel Illustration

Tonight Ed continued teaching about quiet times and the disciplines of our Christian life by using the Navigators' Wheel Illustration. Instead of going into detail here, follow the link. It's good stuff.

To make the outside of the wheel (obedience) work, the spokes (prayer, fellowship, time in God's word, and witness) need to be balanced with each other, and connected to the hub (Christ).

Ed's encouragement to us was to avoid over-complicating Christian life. Instead of a laundry list of things to worry about, the wheel illustration is a simple way to check that things are in balance; and if not, a simple way to know what to use to bring your spiritual disciplines back into balance.

Why Even Have a Quiet Time?

In Genesis 1:26-28, God commands mankind to "be fruitful and multiply." God repeats that command to Noah in Genesis 9:1 and 9:5-7.

What, Ed asked us, does that have to do with having a quiet time?

That command is meant in both a physical and a spiritual sense. Obviously, God meant for Adam and Eve to have children and fill the earth with humans. But as Matthew 28:19-20 indicate, we should also have spiritual children. We should "spiritually reproduce."

Just as there might be things that could interfere with physical reproduction, there are analogous conditions that can interfere with spiritual reproduction:

• Just as lack of union between male and female can prevent physical reproduction, lack of unity between a believer and Christ can prevent spiritual reproduction.
• Just as disease or another physical disorder can prevent physical reproduction, living in a state of sin--a spiritual disease--can prevent spiritual reproduction.
• Just as humans cannot physically reproduce if they are too young, believers cannot spiritually reproduce if they are too spiritually immature.

With that in mind, Ed asked us the challenging question: Do we look at the purpose of quiet time as having anything to do with spiritual reproduction? Or do we look at them with a "what's in it for me" attitude?

Based on the NavPress book, Born to Reproduce, Ed gave us the challenge to desire to be a great-grandparent in the faith, rather than a child in the faith. And to do that, we need to invest our lives into another person. The task isn't to influence the entire world at once. It's to find one person (as the Navigators ask, "Where's your man?" or "Where's your woman?") to pour into.

If you're not doing that yet, or looking at the purpose of quiet times as spiritual reproduction, that's no reason to feel guilty. But think about it. Pray about it. And come back next week, as Ed will share more about quiet times.