How easy it is for us to get swept up in one personality or the next or to be captured by the latest trend or idea. If we found our lives on such things, we found it on shifting sand. Christ invites us to found our lives on the solid rock, which is the Word of God.

If the Word of God is truly to be the foundation of our lives, then our engagement with it must be serious and committed. Indeed, God’s word must abide (live/dwell) in us. It must make its home in us, as we in it! We, therefore, are not called to a merely casual relationship with the scriptures; rather, the reading of scripture and the meditation upon its meaning ought to be consistent, intentional, prayerful, and purposeful.

Even then, still more is required. The scribes knew the scriptures and ‘searched them’. Jesus, however, criticised them because they failed to properly understand the scriptures, nor were they open to their full meaning and implication.

When we read scripture, we should first pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then, empowered by the Spirit, we seek to enact its meanings. Scripture is a living word that points us to a living relationship with Christ, who is the Word made flesh. We are not simply to read but also to believe and put into practice the living faith that scripture contains, and so receive from Christ the gift of Eternal Life.

During this Lenten season, we are engaging regularly with God’s word. But if we are truly to allow the Word to abide in us, we must give it a regular and permanent place in our lives. How might you make scripture a part of your daily life after Lent?

by Fr Michael Grace