Malcolm Cox

This coming Sunday I am preaching on John 9. The man born blind. Part of my prayer this morning was asking God to show me the meaning of this passage for my own life so that I can live it this week before preaching it on Sunday. Reflecting on a passage is part of preparation. Certainly, there is a place to pull apart the text, to analyse, to exegete and to research content and context. However, another essential and in my experience neglected aspect of preparation is reflection.  In her book “Your MA in theology”, Zoe Bennett comments, “[reflection] takes time and demands attention to what is new to us, rather than a quick jumping to conclusions or hurrying on so fast we miss things.”   Is this what was happening when Paul warned Timothy about those teaching false doctrines? “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” (1 Timothy 1:7 NIV11) The word translated “know” (novo - GK) is elsewhere translated "reflect". They have idea