“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all this is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous and then you shall be successful.”

Joshua 1:8 NRSV – Memory Verse for the Week

Spiritual formation is the process by which our deepest desires are changed to match that of Jesus so that our motives, actions, and words align rightly with the kingdom of heaven. Placing Scripture at the center of our attention is one of the keys to spiritual formation. Wrapping Scripture around our consciousness makes the difference between a life like Christ and a poor imitation.

How much Scripture have you memorized? Yeah, me too.

I am beginning to be more convicted that if we hope to have the mind of Christ we need ready access to the divinely inspired words of Christ and the remainder of Scripture too. Reading Scripture is great. No follower of Christ can with a straight face say they are following and not be involved in the reading of Scripture. But what would it look like if our attention was drawn back to holy Scripture without opening the book? What if our consciousness was so attuned that we naturally gravitated toward the words of the Bible?

Have you ever woken up with a song in your head? Maybe even humming the tune? Have you ever found yourself thinking about a problem out of the blue without prompting? That is what it looks like when something has reached the depths of your subconsciousness which is the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one’s actions and feelings.

Rather than Taylor Swift (who by the way is great), I would prefer Matthew or Luke to be influencing my subconscious however! And I bet you would too. That is what memorization of Scripture does for us. It seeps into the crevices and continues to pour out whether we try or not.

I often come back to the G.K. Chesterton quote when it comes to spiritual practices.

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and never tried.

G.K. Chesterton

Friends, it is the start of a new week. What better time to begin something that has not been tried and found wanting!