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This week I have been trying out a new way of spending time with God in His word. It is a study process that I have often done while studying a passage to teach or preach, but it is also quite devotional. I would encourage all followers of Christ and lovers of the Scripture to try the CRA method with your family, small group, one-on-one discipleship, or within personal quiet time.
The CRA method of Bible Study [note: CRA is an acrostic for copy, rewrite, and apply] is quite simple and reproducible. It is a method similar to the scribes of the Old Testament who would copy, recopy, and hide the Word of God in their hearts. Here is the CRA method in 3-simple steps:
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1) Copy the Scripture word-for-word.
2) Rewrite the Scripture in your own words [catching the main themes in context].
3) Apply the truth of Scripture to your life [using "I will…" statements].
Let me show you how I have put this to practice using Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which includes the Hebrew shema. The whole process takes about 20-30 minutes depending on the length of the passages and the quality time you take to meditate upon it. If you read more than 2-3 chapters a day take the key passage of 5-10 verses and write them out using the CRA method.
1) Copy Deuteronomy 6:4-9 word-for-word.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [ESV]
2) Re-write Deuteronomy 6:4-9 in your own words.
Listen up! Children of God. You know YHWH, you God. He is God, the One God. He alone must be the fire that stokes your passions. He alone must be the control center of your being. No question about it, He must be chiseled onto the walls of your heart and mind.
Pass along your God-passion to everyone you know. Start with your kids, those next to you on the bus, those you rub shoulders with everyday, dream about it, tattoo it on your brain, and raise a banner over your home that says, “I love my YHWH, and Him alone!”
3) Apply the truth of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 to your life [using "I will…" statements].
• I will cultivate a passion for God’s love through reading the Bible, applying the Bible, and letting others know what I love about my God.
• I will place reminders around me that point me to my First Love [i.e. verses in my house, wallet, office, computer, etc.].
• I will share with at least one person today my love for God.
• I will read the Word to my wife and kids.
• I will memorize at least one verse of Scripture this week and quote it with my wife.
• I will not read the Bible as a textbook, but as truth from God Himself.
• I will chew on the Word each day I read it.
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