The Journey Part 3 - "God's Word"

      Chic Shaver writes, “If you were to discover that God’s plans for the world and for you had been written down in a book, what would that book we worth to you? If you got your hands on that book, how much would you spend reading it? Rather, how much time do you spend reading it? That book exists. It’s called the Bible, and it is full of things God wants you to know.” With this in mind, we will focus on the importance and application of God’s word.

     Towards this end, I want to ask two basic questions. First, why is the Bible important?

Answering this question requires a look into what Jesus teaches about God’s word. As part of His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus states that God’s word is truth and that by it we are sanctified. This leads to the idea found in John 8:31where we learn that by obeying the word of God we show that we are His disciples. Living as a disciple of Jesus leads to freedom by knowing the truth (John 8:32). Therefore, may we all make room for God’s word so that we can properly respond to Jesus’ leading in our lives.

      The second question is similar to the first. What will God’s word do for you? God’s word is able to make you clean and wise towards salvation (2 Timothy 3:15, John 15:3). From this place of being saved and spiritually clean, the word of God continues to work in our lives by building us up giving us a common heritage in Christ (Acts 20:32). Part of this common heritage is the work God has planned for us. Paul tells the young pastor Timothy that the word of God equips us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

     As we live out the work that God has for us, we experience the opposition of evil. Evil requires both an offensive and defensive approach. In Ephesians chapter 6 we read discover the what we are to use in this fight. In this passage the word of God gives as a tool to defeat the evil. Evil does not only come from the outside, but from our own sinful nature. The biblical prescription for this problem is multi-faceted but one very helpful truth is that hiding God’s word in our heart guides us away from sin (Psalm, 119:11).

     I want to conclude these thoughts with a personal challenge that sets this whole message in the right order. If the Bible is to be of any use to us we must first belong to God. In John 8:47 Jesus states “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” Please take a moment to consider if you and every aspect of your life truly belong to God. If you need to make that choice today, please do so and go tell one that has already made that choice.