Holmes: “You have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”

Watson: “Hundreds of times.”

Holmes: “Then how many are there?”

Watson: “How many? I don’t know!”

Holmes: “Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”

Sherlock Holmes is one of those awesome types. He is smart, witty, and of course, he is the hero with flaws. One of the reasons I like Holmes is because he uses his brain in ways most people do not. His mind is where he gets his awesomeness, he sees things by using his grey matter tucked away in his cranium.

The point made above by Sherlock is an excellent point on Bible reading. For our purposes here: seeing equals reading, observing equals meditation.

Merely reading the Bible does not affect our lives. Simply seeing the words on the page and getting the story doesn’t initiate life change. It doesn’t make you more awesome.

Observing what the Bible is communicating, or meditating on passages of Scripture, brings the change into your life. Understanding God’s ideas and living out His ways make you more awesome.

Sometimes, as we read Bible stories, and well known Bible verses, it can go without any mental activity at all. It’s like the words go in one ear and out the other. We have a habit of not observing. It is so much easier to only see.

Whether you’ve read the Holy Scriptures before, or never picked up the Bible, make sure you observe what you read. Process the words of God through your mind. Think about the situations of the people, or the reason a letter was written to a church. Observe and visualize emotions, and settings, and internal conflicts with the people of the Scriptures.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

And as a final thought… Sherlock often times would think aloud to himself. He would mutter things to himself when thinking about a subject. He would recite phrases out loud to himself when he was re-observing a situation in his mind. This is part of Biblical meditation, reciting God’s Word to yourself will help you keep it, live it, and experience it.

This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.

Joshua 1:8 (NET1)

Begin to think like Sherlock. Begin to read the Bible as he would process events in his mind. Observe, don’t be satisfied with simply seeing.