Resolutions Devotions

I’m preaching for the high school camp at Camp Gilead this week. Jonathan Edwards is helping me again and during staff devotions each morning I resolved to start with (a cup of French Roast and) one of Edwards’ resolutions.

The Resolutions were written by Edwards when he was between the ages of 19 and 20, close to the age of many of the Gilead summer staff. Of course, there are 70 total resolutions so there is no way for us to consider them all in 10-15 minutes each day. I’ve selected a few (at least in my opinion) noteworthy ones and today we started with #28:

Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

I know Edwards is not inspired, but this resolution captures his intent to apply passages like Colossians 3:16,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

or Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1, and 1 Peter 2:1-3.

And it seems Edwards made good on #28. He regularly spent 13 hours a day reading, studying, praying over, and writing about Scripture. He occasionally missed meals because he was in the study “zone” and . His Blank Bible (picture) was not so blank after making notes through the Old and New Testaments. Almost every one of his sermons was an exposition of some passage of Scripture. His books are replete with Scripture references.

For the size of his intellectual arsenal, his cognitive powers were always secondary to Scripture. So Ian Murray said of him:

The key to an understanding of Jonathan Edwards is that he was a man who put faithfulness to the Word of God before every other consideration.

Maybe that is why God used JE to bring such a great awakening of affection for Himself.