Meditating on the Word of God, for the purpose of either reinforcing one’s faith, or to identify his/her need to make adjustments is found in both Old Testament (Joshua 1: 8/Psalms 1:2) and New Testament (2Cor. 13: 5) Scripture.
Be it for the better or for the worse, all human beings are creatures of habit.
Scripture (Joshua 1: 8) teach that it is by meditating on and applying (James 1: 22) the Word of God, that one will make a habit (lifestyle) of doing what God commands.
Born again believers remain forever saved (Romans 8: 1), but still have an inherent bent toward sin (Gen. 6: 5) that does NOT go away (Romans 7: 24). A genuine desire to meditate on the Word of God, conduct constructive self-examinations (2Cor. 13: 5), and then make the appropriate adjustments will not come to us naturally. . We are "naturally" hostile towards God and the things of God (Romans 8: 7).
"because the mind set on the flesh (human viewpoint) is hostile towards God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so (Romans 8:7 NASB italics mine)."
Since the Fall of Man, human beings come into this world with a fallen nature that is passed down from generation to generation at the moment of conception (Psalms 51: 5). This fallen nature is inherently hostile towards the God of the Bible and things of the God of Bible.
Born again believers become new creatures in Christ (2Cor. 5: 17), with the indwelling Spirit (1Cor. 3: 16) and enabling power (John 15: 5) to overcome this fallen nature, but one must choose to do so on a moment to moment, daily basis (Gal. 5: 22, 23).
Not only does this fallen nature remain inside us, it will increase the intensity of the pressure it exerts on the soul, keeping pace with whatever spiritual growth one achieves. The only time that our fallen nature will let up on us (for awhile) is when it's evil desires are satisfied. Satisfying the desires of our fallen nature will reduce its pressure for a while, but this scenario is what opens the door to divine disciple from God (Heb. 12: 6).
IN his letter to the local assemblies in Rome, Paul spoke of his ongoing battle with this fallen nature within him some thirty years after he was born again, and towards the conclusion of his earthly ministry. e.
The self-examination spoken of in 2Cor. 13: 5), calls for reflection and the making of adjustments. This is an ongoing necessity for successful execution of the post (after) salvation spiritual life.
As the James 1: 23-25 scenario demonstrates, we can be convicted (John 16: 8) of the sin in our lives and can see the accompanying need to address (1John 1: 9/John 8: 11) by looking into the Word of God.
But all too often, we no sooner close the Bible that we put the reflection of our true selves that it reveled out of sight and out of mind (James 1: 24).
Like the seeds sown in Matthew 13, if the Word does not take a firm root, there being no fruit (forward progress) in our spiritual lives).
We will “get nothing out of going to Church,” if we don’t take something home.
Every sermon (Isa. 55: 11) we listen to should either reveal something that we need to address at the present time; something that we will need to address in the future; or something that we can share with others that will minister to their spiritual needs. We may be entertained by some of what goes on in Church, but we are not primarily there to be entertained, we are there to be made disciples (students an appliers of the Word of God)."
Reflection is of no value if what it discloses is not addressed.
All sin is “addressed” by confession (1John 1: 9) to God, followed up by forsaking (John 8: 11) the same sin in the future.
Confession means to acknowledge that what we have done (or failed to do) is a sin, and that we are guilty.
Repentance is a change of mind. When we can now see what God requires or forbids that we did not see (or want to see) before, we have changed our minds.
If we already know that what we are involved in is sin, there is no need for repentance. In such cases, we do not need to change our minds; we need to change our actions.
Spiritual maturity is a result of growing in the accurate knowledge (2Pet.3: 18) and in the consistent application (James 1: 22) of the Word of God. We cannot apply what we do not know.
The devil can quote Scripture (Matt. 4), but desires that it be misapplied.
Most religious people have knowledge of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament. Spiritually mature disciples will concur with them, but know that there are more than 300 Commandments in the New Testament, as well as the significance of each one (James 2: 10).
Growing in the knowledge of the Lord and reflecting on it are necessary steps along the road to spiritual maturity, but knowledge and reflection without application will prove to be fruitless (James 1: 22).
In closing, consider that whenever it was that you last gained more knowledge or better applied the knowledge that you did have was the last time that you moved forward in the life of discipleship. Don't allow the image you see when looking into the Word of God to disappear. Be wise enough to make the adjustments it reveals.
"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1: 23-25)."