A Scholar's Devotion

A Scholar’s Devotion with Scot McKnight

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6 Comments on A Scholar’s Devotion with Scot McKnight

Going through seminary, students are taught to study the Bible and uphold its doctrines about God while also being encouraged not to neglect their devotional times with God. Yet during my own devotional time I, and probably many others, often asked myself, “Is this the best way to grow spiritually, or is there a better way? What could I do differently? Should I incorporate my studies with my devotions?”  

In this series I ask a different scholar two questions about how he or she spends time with the Lord and continues to love him with all their mind, strength, and heart. While no one method or style is “the only way,” we can draw on one another’s experiences. 

This week I have asked Dr. Scot McKnight if he would share his thoughts with us.

1. How do you spend your devotional time with the Lord?

I’m still basking in the two years I spent translating the New Testament (called The Second Testament), as it was two years, four hours a day on almost all weekdays, reading, pondering, praying, considering, and translating the Bible. It was such a great experience for me. Plus, I now am working on the Everyday Bible Study series which is daily reflection on a passage in the New Testament. Each of these were times with the Lord, both intellectually and devotionally.

My prayer life is shaped by daily recitations of the Jesus Creed (“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”), which I cite—both consciously and semi-consciously—multiple times each day. I have now been saying the Jesus Creed daily for more than twenty years.

Church participation is also “devotional” for me—whether it is the opening collect of purity, the music and singing, the reading of Scripture, the sermon, the prayers, the passing of the peace, or the Eucharist—it’s devotional. In addition, Kris and I go on long walks each day (we shoot for 10,000 steps), where we experience conversation, encountering God’s creation, and especially God’s birds—each of these shape my devotional life.

2. How do you practically seek to deepen your love for Christ? 

The Gospels, plain and simple. I love to read the Gospels, and I get to read in them, if not daily, at least weekly. I spend time reading and pondering the Lord Jesus as presented in the Gospels. Each passage in the Gospels is about Jesus—we meet him there, we are challenged by him there, and we are formed whenever we see him, hear him, or observe his pastoral ways of the cruciform life. I have been reading the Gospels seriously for half a century and I am stunned often by seeing something I had never seen before. In addition, I read books about the Gospels and about Jesus, which often morph into deepening my love for Jesus. In addition, I encounter and learn about Jesus in the face and lives of my students, my fellow worshipers at church, and in my friends.

Scot McKnight is the Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has edited the IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters and written commentaries on the Sermon on the Mount, Galatians, Colossians, Philemon, James, and 1 Peter, as well as books on Romans, Revelation, the King Jesus Gospel, Adam and science, and good churches. Find him on Twitter here. 

Thank you, Dr. McKnight!

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