A Bible Meditation Using
The SOAP Approach .
.
In last week’s Devotional, we mentioned how beneficial it can be to
read our Bibles, pray and write down our thoughts gleaned while doing so. In more detail, a 4-part approach was shared
for meditating on God’s Word, called SOAP.
Forming an acrostic, these four letters stand for Scripture,
Observation, Application
and Prayer.
In the
following is an example of how this life-changing practice often works.
With my
Bible in hand and a pen and notebook near by; I prayed and then read PROVERBS
11. I prayed again and re-read 11
while looking for a verse (or
verses) that spoke to me the most. In
this case, verse 4 seemed to be the one for me that day. I then wrote it out – word for word – in my
notebook to the right of the letter S which was in the left margin. This became my Scripture.
S. Riches do not profit in the
day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
PROVERBS
11:4
Then I
re-read what I had written and prayed again while asking the Lord how the same
thing might be said in other words today.
Next, to the right of the letter O, I wrote my Observation of this verse in my
own words.
O. Money cannot buy us
everything, nor can our wealth purchase us eternal life at the time
of judgment.
However, our being right with God assures us of what we
need for that day.
Therefore, we can
see that having riches is not as important as being righteous.
After re-reading all I
had written, I asked the Lord to help me see the truth of this passage for my
personal life. Then, beside the letter A, I wrote out a personal
Application of this passage.
righteousness, is more important than all the
possessions anyone can
have, including finances and fame; which
are temporal and can be lost,
stolen or destroyed. Based on the
longevity of the eternal things that God
gives,
it is easy to understand what true riches really are. The truth of this
is
illustrated in the fact that hearses do not have trailer hitches.
In light of all this, I
began to pray and thank the Lord for helping me with insight on this issue. Here is a synopsis of my Prayer, written
beside the letter P.
P. Lord,
thank You for making me right in Your sight, by forgiving and crediting
me with your
own righteousness. I realize how valuable this is and how it
pays off on Judgment Day. Help me to live a life that
reflects what You have
given
so freely and abundantly. May temporal riches never distract me from
the importance of the righteousness You
have given to true believers.
In Your priceless name, Amen.
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Righteous
meditation awaits you through giving time to prayer and Bible reading.
