JohnBlog - Word&LightSample

JohnBlog - Word&Light the Introduction and Preparation Some years ago I was on a plane, reading a yellowed paperback with front cover long since gone. The passenger next to me commented, “that’s a well-loved book – how many times have you read it?” “I bought it twenty years ago and I’ve not yet got to the end” I replied. It was a copy of Imitation of Christ, a compendium of meditations by the 15th century Dutch monk Thomas à Kempis. Imitation is said to be the most widely read devotional book after the Bible. It both reflected and fuelled a resurgence of spirituality in Northern Europe 500 years ago. The role of meditation in Christian revival is often overlooked. The Bible can be read as a story, as history or as theology; to derive doctrine and to test doctrine; to correct and encourage; and to find comfort, forgiveness, knowledge and wisdom. You can read to study and understand; to fill you up for the day ahead; to calm a troubled mind; and to lift your spirit in worship. Using the Bible in Christian meditation is one of the most powerful tools in spiritual growth and deepening. Want to become radically more like Christ? Then you need to ‘abide in him’ (John 15). One way of abiding in him is to read his story and his words over and over again. Chew on them, with one flavor bursting through into another and then another. This is risky. Gnawing on God’s words until you get down to the nourishment in the marrow demands a response of mind, heart, behavior and life-style. JohnBlog - Word&Light is a three-week menu of meditations on the first 13 verses of John’s Gospel. It is a spiritually and intellectually probing meditation on the person and purpose of Christ and the first in a series that will cover the whole of John’s Gospel. Following each reflective thought is a reflective prayer in the conversational style used so effectively by Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. I hope you find much spiritual power in using these meditations. To prepare, I recommend reading prayerfully John 1:1-13. Christian meditation is a powerful discipline that helps us abide in Christ in order to become more like him. Before each day’s reading, ask God to increase your hunger and thirst for truth and light.