​The other night my family and I were discussing what Scripture meditation actually means, what it looks like, and it’s place in the Christian life.  Personally, I believe that Scripture meditation is simply opening God’s Word, reading a passage of verses, and then being still before God.  It’s a time when I ponder the meaning and significance of the passage in front of me, the biblical importance and background, and the personal application.  

As a young adult, I often get questions like:  “What are you doing with your life?”  “Are you going to school?”  “What are you interested in?”  And so on.  My response as of late tends to be “I’m interested in ministry and currently keep a devotional blog called So I Fix My Eyes…”  However, after a recent conversation with my mom about future life goals and passions, I began pondering what ministry actually means.

Since a very young age, I have always been fascinated by the stained glass windows found  within the states. The stories of Jesus show forth proudly as the new day sun shines through. Casting the dark reds, and deep blues upon the faces of the congregation as they eagerly listen to the words of their shepherd. Small children investigate the photos of Christ in His ministry on earth, remembering the tales of Christ that they so often hear from their parents: the feeding of the 5,000, Christ's birth, death and resurrection. Though it may seem childish, I still enjoy spending my time looking at stained glass windows and maybe the reason behind my love of them is knowing how much they show my own story. 

​A stone rolled away…an empty tomb...abandoned burial rags…a missing body…
 
These timeless reminders of Resurrection Sunday and the events that took place often lose their luster and become ordinary, expected, and predictable, especially if you’re like me and grew up in a Christian home.  We become so familiar with these icons of Christianity that they lose their wonder, awe, and splendor in our eyes.  But this should not be!  We should never grow weary and calloused to the glory, awe, and miracle of the empty tomb, but must remind ourselves of what really took place and become re-amazed by the wonder of it all.

​Two pieces of wood, one planted vertically and the other attached horizontally two-thirds up the first.  Once a symbol of Roman cruelty and torture, now an emblem of divine love, the simple image of the cross holds much meaning and significance.  Especially today, as we remember and hold sacred the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood poured out for us.

We make many assumptions. Too often we assume that as Christians, we don’t experience the same problems unbelievers face. It’s easy to think that once we are redeemed from our sins we don’t have as great a need of God’s grace as others do. We know that those who don’t trust Jesus for forgiveness have been blinded and hardened against the truth (John 12:40, Ephesians 4:18). However, when Jesus stilled the storm in Mark 6, the disciples were surprised at Jesus’ power because “their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52).  This begs the question, “Can Christians have hard hearts as well as unbelievers?” Hebrews 3:14 indicates we certainly have the potential, so I don’t think we can remove ourselves from this dangerous category.  Instead we should know what it means to be hard-hearted, what we can do to prevent it, and how we can be restored if we have sinned by having a hard heart.

​A new month, new week, and…new Bible study!  As we enter into this month of April, which holds the blessed remembrance of the greatest sacrifice ever given, the hope of spring and new life, and more sunshine, we’re going to start a new Bible study.