The Process 2.0

Eyes Open Wide Have you ever bought a different car and suddenly you started noticing the same make and model everywhere you drive? Reading scripture can become a similar experience. I recently started on another go-round of the Synergy Bible Reading Plan (posted Sept. 20, ’25). What a delight to discover new insights in familiar passages! All because of my recent focus on the principles of spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:10-20. My first highlight was in Psalm 1 (the first book in column 1). I was reading about how the blessed man does not walk, stand, or sit with various wrongdoers, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. I suddenly realized that this was a man who had ‘filled the void!’ You see, I have shared with others about how denying temptations and avoiding sinful activities creates a void in our lives and how we need to fill that void with God-honoring thoughts and activities. If we don’t, we give Satan an opportunity to attack from another angle by filling the void with a different temptation. But, if we fill the void with thoughts or activities that honor God, then we leave less room for Satan and his schemes. That’s what the man of Psalm 1 did. Instead of spending time with evildoers, he chose to spend time in God’s word. He filled the void that was created by inactivity by choosing an activity that would please God. I had never made that connection before. Now, here is the exciting part. Since I have a new context for understanding my Christian life and faith (like driving a different car), I have begun to notice what I never noticed before (all the similar cars that others own) in these familiar passages. It’s not that I’m reading into passages. The similar cars that others own have been there all along. I just had no reason to notice them before. In the same way, the truths of scripture haven’t changed, Psalm 1 is still Psalm 1; I just had no reason to make this connection before. But now, it leapt off the page! Likewise, another highlight I had was in Jeremiah (the first book in column 9). “You, therefore, gird up your loins (prepare yourself) and stand up and speak to them all that I command you” (1:17a). Do you see the parallel with Ephesians? “Stand, having girded up your loins (prepared yourselves) with truth” (6:14) and “Receive...the sword of the Spirit, which is the (spoken) word of God” (6:17). Wow! I am excited about my reading plans and how God will create a fuller context for my understanding of spiritual warfare. Now, this is all a part of the process of maturity. The older a child grows, the greater capacity he has to learn and understand his father. As I mature, the greater capacity I have to learn and understand my heavenly Father. As a child matures, he gains insight and wisdom into why he shouldn’t punch someone when he gets angry, how to tie his shoelaces properly, and how to read books. As I mature, I gain insight and understanding into how to stand and receive, how to withstand the strategies of the evil, and how to do what is pleasing to my heavenly Father.