I am challenged to read through the Gospel of Mark with more intentionality. This is an invitation from the Spirit. I am now in Mark 9 and have come to a realization that I am back to my default approach to reading Scripture.
I like the “technical” approach. It’s not a scholarly approach, but when I approach Scripture in a careful way, I like to dig in and get the background, the context, the flow of the particular writer, etc. I will scour different kinds of study books, dictionaries, and commentaries. It helps me read better so I understand Scripture and work to apply more accurately for my own context.
The difficulty is this: I start into “technical” and I stay there. I copy and paste a few pertinent sentences, I jot my own notes that go that “technical” aspect, and I move on. I don’t do spiritual reading as much. Not much “Lectio Divina” or to that end.
So, back to “ignoring” the research (in that I’m not diving into books so quickly). I am to trust the background work I’ve already done and simply listen to what the Spirit wants to say to me in the passage I have before me. This is the work that I am currently in and a work I find challenging.
Apprentice 2 Jesus 