Life On The Highest Plane
The Word of God is a Seed Which Matures and Multiplies
But how contrary is such an attitude to that of most Christians. In what a purely perfunctory, desultory manner many Christians study or read the Bible. It is like a bit of distasteful medicine that is needed for the sake of health but the quicker taken the better. The Bible is opened in a haphazard fashion to any place; the reading is done with no relish; the Book is gladly closed and what was read makes little impression.
The Word of God is a living thing and accordingly responds to the treatment given to it. What a difference it makes when one truly hungers for the Bread of life; when one thirsts for the living Water; when one comes to the Word of God with a keen appetite for a full meal. The Word of God becomes food to such a one and honey to his taste.
Jeremiah 15:15, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord of hosts."
Job 23:12, "Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips: I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."
Psalm 119:103, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth."
What a difference it makes when one approaches the Bible as on a quest, when one is really hunting for something as the gold digger hunts for the gold. Then he is content with no superficial reading but he systematically searches; he seeks for great spoil; he diligently digs for the deepest truths. Such a one is saved from intellectual laziness and stands ready for the concentration and meditation required of one who deeply knows God. The Bible becomes a gold mine to such a searcher after truth.
Psalm 119:127, "Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea above fine gold."
Psalm 119:162, "I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil."
What a difference it makes when one truly loves the Book and longs to know Christ! Then he does not study with an eye on the clock but rather rejoices to find an extra hour or two that he may spend upon the Word. Such a man knows the thrill of "a non-stop flight" even through Genesis, Isaiah, or Revelation. He loves the Book of God because he loves the God of the Book.
Psalm 119:140, "Thy word is very pure; therefore thy servant loveth it."
John 14:21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
We must approach the Word of God not only in faith and in love but in a willingness to obey. To learn and then not to live is deadly and disastrous. Disobedience to what God said through doubt kept the children of Israel out of Canaan and later took their posterity into captivity and exile. One must become a doer of the Word.
The Bible will never really become ours until we have the consistent and persistent purpose to live what we learn. We might make a very careful study of the constituent elements of foods and know just how much of each we need in our system to ensure health but that knowledge will not give strength of body. Only as we eat, digest and assimilate the food itself does it minister to our bodily needs. So we need to beware of mere head knowledge of the Bible. Apart from the Holy Spirit's inworking of the Word of life into the very fabric of our being it has no saving nor sanctifying power. This He cannot do unless there is an obedient response on our part. The Word is not given to us to make our intellects treasure houses of heavenly wisdom but to make our hearts the sanctuaries of the heavenly One. God's warnings have no value for one unless they are heeded: His precepts profit nothing unless they are followed and His commandments can only bless as they are obeyed. "If ye keep my commandments." The whole force of what follows draws its meaning from that little word "if". If we take food into the body, it becomes blood and muscle, so if we incorporate the Word of God into our life, it becomes character and conduct. When studying God's Word we should say to ourselves constantly, "How can this be worked into the very woof and warp of my life?" The Bible to yield its full fruitage demands not only consideration and meditation but application.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 17)
No comments:
Post a Comment