At the end of Moses' life, he made
a speech of a lifetime, he recited a song to Israel to be sung by
all their descendants and he proclaimed a blessing over all the
people and over every tribe. And just after the song, he said the
following to them:
"Take to heart all the words I
have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so
they will obey every word of this law. These instructions are not
mere words - they are your life!" Deuteronomy 32:46, 47
Let me repeat it again, the Words
in the Bible are not mere words, they are our life! The words in
the Bible are unique as it is God breathed. The Bible was not
written by 40 odd writers, no, the Bible was written by one Author,
the Holy Spirit. He guided each writer and He used them to proclaim
His message to the world in order to bring life to us all. This is
also confirmed in Hebrews 4:12:
"For the Word of God is full of
living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep
into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we
really are."
Peter also confirmed that the new
life within us comes from the Word of God:
"For you have been born again.
Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the
life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last
forever because it comes from the eternal, living Word of God." 1
Peter 1:23
It is thus clear that the Word
gives life, it sustains us and it exposes us for who we really are.
So why is it that our time spent in the Word is so limited? Why do
we have time to read Face book for 2 hours and have only 5 minutes
to read the Bible? Why do we have hours on end to page through
magazines, but only a minute to page through our life giving
Bible?
Now none of the above is sin, but
why do we have time to do that but no time to read what really
matters? I am convinced it is because the devil is the best
marketing agent this world has ever seen. He knows how to lure us
in, he knows what makes our sinful nature tick and above all he
knows the damage it can do to his kingdom if we read the Bible more
than 5 minutes a day. We as Christians need to take a stand and
call his bluff. We need to take the Word that gives us life and we
need to study it. We need to digest it and let it become part of
our lives. We need to let it soak inside and become revelation
knowledge, which will bubble out life to all. We need to bubble out
the spring of life inside that is ours for the taking. We simply
need to make the time to read it and pray it into existence in our
lives. We are such a privileged generation to have the Bible so
easily within reach. We have so many translations and can always
have the Bible with us on our phones, Ipad's etc. Moses' generation
never had that. We don't have any excuse whatsoever. We need to
obey the Words that give us life. We cannot breathe without it.
Give it a try, it is more than worth it!
Father, thank you for Your precious
Word. Thank you so much for the privilege of having access to Your
life giving fountain. Please forgive us when other things become
too important. We want to lift Your Name on high. In Jesus Name.
Amen