In a recent magazine article, a Christian college professor expressed concern that his students weren't Biblically literate even though they read their Bibles every day and even had parts of it memorized. His solution was that people should shift away from private, personal time in the Bible to communal times.
I don't want to dissect and discuss the article here. However, I wanted to focus on the concept of communal vs. private times in God's Word.
Do we need time together in the Bible? Yes. Reading and studying the Bible with others helps us get more out of the passage, encourages us, and (hopefully) keeps us from going off on tangents due to misinterpretation.
But I'm concerned that, in the battle against individualism and people pulling away from church attendance, we might go too far the other way and de-emphasize our personal walk with God.
God is the heavenly Father of all those who believe in Him. But we don't relate to Him only as a group. Wise human fathers spend time with the family all together but also with individual members one-on-one. Our Father in heaven is even wiser. Though He created us to interact with and encourage each other, He also has a personal relationship with each of His children. And relationships thrive on communication.
Our time with others informs our personal time with God. And our time alone in His Word informs our time all together.
The psalms were sung in the congregation. Yet they are full of personal singular pronouns.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears (Psalm 34:4).
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. (Psalm 40:2).
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (Psalm 63:5-8).
As much as we need each other, sometimes we have to stand alone with God.
David "encouraged himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:6) when the men of Israel were ready to stone him.
Joseph spent years as the only apparent believer in the one true God that he knew when he was a slave in Egypt. His witness did seem to spread to others. But he had to remind himself of God's truth on his own.
Two turning-point meetings with God in Jacob's life happened when he was alone.
Daniel had friends of the same faith, but he faced the lion's den alone, received visions alone, and prayed alone.
Paul ministered with companions but sometimes was alone.
Jesus dealt with crowds of people yet sought His Father alone.
We'll each give account of ourselves personally to God. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
If we're reading the Bible regularly and still don't know much about it, there are ways to improve. Jen Wilkin's book, Women of the Word, was written for just that reason. I'm trying to write a book on the same topic. There are aids all over the Internet to improve our devotional time, or quiet time, or time in God's Word. I've written about several aspects here.
But let's keep things in balance. Meet with other believers to read and study God's Word. But meet with Him alone as well.
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