Something I deeply admire about the Jewish people is the way they keep scripture ever before them – with great intention and reverence.
The passage below is known as The Shema Prayer in Jewish culture and is recited twice daily: once in the morning and once in the evening. Its purpose is simple yet profound – to call God’s people back, again and again, to the oneness and Lordship of God in their lives.
I love that.
As a writer, however, I can sometimes have too many thoughts and opinions when I approach scripture. I may read a passage of the Bible and instantly begin forming a response, an interpretation, or an angle of my own. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – thinking and reasoning are gifts.
And yet, I don’t believe this is always the best way to read scripture.
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.’
The word Shema literally means “hear” in Hebrew.
How quick are we to genuinely hear what the Bible is saying to us before – sometimes pridefully – wandering off into our own interpretations or ideas?
I once learned about a style of listening known as attentive listening. One of its key elements is listening in order to understand, rather than listening merely so we can respond.
How often do we listen just so we’ll have something to say back?
This instinct is deeply embedded in Western culture. We’re taught from a young age:
Speak up!
Have your own opinion!
Keep the conversation going!
We’re encouraged to contribute, to be interesting, to add something of value to every interaction. And while this can certainly be a social skill, I believe there is also a precious – and often overlooked – gift in learning how to sit back, relax, and listen simply to understand what is being communicated.
No agenda.
No urgency.
No need to assert your own perspective in response.
Scripture itself reminds us that listening is only the beginning. In James 1:22 we’re told:
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
When we rush through the Word of God – or hurry away with our own thoughts and interpretations – we can miss what God is wanting to do within us. Scripture warns that this kind of hurried hearing can even lead us into deception.
The Bible says this about itself:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’
(Hebrews 4:12, NIV)
My encouragement to us today is to slow down long enough to let scripture marinate – to allow it to linger in our hearts and minds instead of rushing past it.
May we give God’s Word the time and space to dwell deeply within us, sinking beneath the surface and doing its quiet work of correcting, realigning, and reshaping us into greater Christlikeness.
When you truly hear something, it doesn’t just stay in your thoughts – it settles into your heart. It reaches that deep, inner place where understanding becomes knowing.
I believe this is where we are meant to encounter the Word of God.
And I believe it is from this place – of deep hearing and patient attentiveness – that scripture begins to bear lasting, lifegiving fruit in our lives.
