In his excellent book, Simplify Your Spiritual Life, Donald Whitney offers what I think is a game-changer in how you read and benefit from the Bible.

When you encounter Scripture, search for at least one application of it. For example, when reading God’s Word, say to yourself, “I won’t close my Bible until I can prayerfully think of at least one way to apply what I’ve read.” Such mental scouring of the Scripture for an application is meditation, or at least one form of it.

So as you reflect on the text, do you perceive something God would have you…

• Stop?
• Start?
• Believe?
• Confess?
• Pray about?
• Thank Him for?
• Communicate to someone?

We cannot expect the Bible to advance our transformation without meditation and application (pp. 68-69).

As James says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). Take heed and change how you read, and apply.