How Love I Thy Law: Making the Bible a Part of Everyday Life

As I was thinking and praying about a post for this week, this verse came to mind:

“O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

If you’re at all like me, you probably find it all too easy to limit your interaction with the Bible to specific scheduled times. For me, it’s first thing in the morning, but even when I have read in the evenings, the temptation remained the same. James puts it this way:

“For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” (1:23-24)

If we’re not careful, we can look at God’s Word as the man looking into a mirror, and then go about our day completely unchanged, having already forgotten whatever it was God wanted to teach us.

But that’s not how it’s supposed to be. We are to make God’s Word our “meditation all the day.” Hebrews 4:12 tells us,

“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

That word, quick means to live. When we read the Bible, we are not just reading an ordinary book. We are reading the very words of God. To get a perspetive of how powerful God’s words are, just remember that His words spoke all of creation into being! (Genesis 1-2)

We who have trusted Christ for salvation have received the Holy Spirit, part of whose purpose is to quicken the Word of God to our hearts, to make it come alive in a way that changes us from the inside out. But in order for the Holy Spirit to use the Word of God to change us, we have to be interacting with it!

That’s where the verse at the beginning of this post comes in. In Psalm 119:97, the psalmist voices his love for God’s Word.  (Law is one way Old Testament Jews referred to the Scriptures, since the books detailing God’s law were often their primary focus.)

But his next statement gives us a clue as to why:

“it is my meditation all the day.”

For the Christian, meditation is prayerfully thinking about a specific portion of Scripture. It isn’t some mystic emptying of the mind, but rather filling it with the Word of God.

I can tell you from experience that the more time you spend in God’s Word, the more precious it becomes. If you are not in the habit of reading the Bible every day, may I encourage you to start?

I have heard many Christians argue that to put an emphasis on reading the Bible daily, or to set a reading goal such as reading through the Bible in a year is legalistic. Yet, there are many places in the Bible where God Himself highlights the importance of regular, daily, even unceasing interaction with His Word.

Psalm 119:97 is just one example of this, and the Lord used it to challenge me this week to ask the very practical question, “how?” After all, it’s one thing to say we’re going to meditate on God’s Word all day long, but life doesn’t just stop: we still have to go about our daily lives.

I’m pretty sure the psalmist didn’t just sit alone in a cave somewhere with a scroll, reading the Scriptures all day long. Nowhere in the Bible do we see anyone withdrawing completely and permanently from daily life in order to only study God’s Word. We can withdraw for a season, but God’s Word is for everyday life. It’s not just for studying, but for living out.  

So, here are just a few practical ideas that came to mind as I thought through how you and I can make the Word of God my meditation “all the day.”

Take it With You

I have known two women in recent years who tote around a heavy book bag wherever they go. It contains their entire “currently reading” stack, and it goes where they go, so that they can snatch any spare moments to read.

Now, as much as I like the idea of always having a book with me, the idea of carting around a heavy bag isn’t as appealing. But think about it, if you had a Bible in your purse or car, you could turn the frustrating “waiting” moments into sweet times with God in His Word.

Instead of scrolling through social media, you could be soaking in Scripture as you wait in line for an oil change or at the gas station, the fast food drive-through (which is sometimes anything but fast) or simply when you arrive early for something and have a few extra minutes.  

I have a Bible app on my phone, and I have pulled it out more than once in just such a situation, but I find it easier to process what I am reading if it’s on a physical page, so I often keep a Bible in my purse. (Along with a notebook for jotting down blog post ideas.)

Listen to It

During the schoolyear, extra reading time is difficult to come by. I also have several friends who don’t learn as well by reading, so it is helpful for them to listen to the Bible instead of just reading. (Although, I do think both reading and listening are valuable, if you can do both.) Most Bible apps will have an audio option, which makes listening to the Bible much more convenient!

Take Time With It

I try to take my time in the mornings and not rush my time of Bible reading, no matter how late I woke up or how quickly I need to be out the door. But even then, I sometimes end up skimming over a passage and then rushing off to live my life. The problem is, when I skim, I walk away unchanged, untouched, and unaware of anything I need to do in response to what I have just read.

To help me on busy mornings, I will often set a timer before I begin reading, for however much time I can spare. This allows me to push off that feeling of needing to go do other things and focus only on reading and listening to what the Holy Spirit wants to teach me.  

Write it Down

This is a big one for me. I often write down a specific verse or passage that the Holy Spirit touches my heart with so I can remember it throughout the day. Index cards or a small notepad can be helpful for this. If I’m battling something specific, I’ll often write down a verse or vereses that help me with it, and stick it in a jacket pocket. Then, every time I put my hand in that pocket, I am reminded of the verse on the paper. Whether or not I actually pull it out to read it, the reminder is there.

Memorize It

This is probably the biggest help in meditating on God’s Word all day long. The verses I have memorized are always there with me, and I can think about them any time, no matter what I am doing. The remembrance of a memorized Scripture verse or passage often leads me to spend some time silently praying, and to take one special verse or passage as a focus for that day keeps my focus on God as well.

Live it!

This is where the rubber meets the road. Remember the verse in James we looked at before? The thing that keeps us from being like that man who looks in the mirror and then forgets what he looks like as soon as he turns away is to be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only. What does that look like for every day life?

I have often heard it said that whenever we interact with the Word of God, we should walk away changed in some way. This is true in principle, but it’s often hard to be consistent in. That is why we should approach our times of Bible reading with a praying heart, ready to hear and willing to obey whatever God has to teach us.

This having been said, there are mornings when I am ill or exhausted, and all I can muster is a quick, “Lord, I need Your help.” I still read, but often I end up rereading the same passage the next day, because I struggled to give it the attention it deserved when I wasn’t feeling well. (Days like this are often good days to dwell on verses I have already memorized.)

Be Consistent—But Be Flexible

While I would never want to undermine the importance of immersing yourself in the Word of God, or to give the impression that it’s okay to just not read your Bible whenever you don’t feel like it, I do want to mention that God knows everything. On days of illness or exhaustion, He knows all about your pain or mental fog.

God doesn’t sit up in heaven waiting for you to miss a day of Bible reading or to get behind on your reading or memory goal so He can pour out punishment upon you. Some days your reading time will be better than others, and He knows that. But He does want His Word to be an integral part of our everyday lives because He loves us.

Fill Your Heart, Mind, and Mouth With Scripture

Here is how God told the Israelites they were to interact with His Word each day:

“And these words which I command thee this day, shalt be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

God’s people were (and are!) to live each day with God’s Word in their hearts and on their tongues. They were to wear God’s Word and display it on their doorposts and gates, so that they would never forget it. They were to diligently and purposefully teach their children God’s Word, passing it down from one generation to the next.

Now, what about you? I hope this post has given you a vision for how you can make God’s Word your meditation “all the day,” but it all comes down to responding in obedience to what the Holy Spirit wants you to do. Is there something specific He pointed out to you today about taking time to meditate on God’s Word?

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” 

Psalm 119:105