Text: Psalm 119:129-152, Luke 8:4-21, Luke 11:27-28, Romans 10:17
Time in the Word doesn’t always feel natural or especially urgent, does it? Sometimes I walk away feeling unchanged. But, the thing we know from Isaiah 55:11 is that Scripture doesn’t return void. God is always producing fruit when we’re in the Word. We know we are to hear it and take it in.
Now, the times I’ve seen most spiritual growth in my own life are when I’m convinced that God’s truth is the only thing I have to cling to. It is like Psalm 119:130-131 says:
The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.
All I long for is intimacy with God and time in the Word. I find such relief in the encouragement and testimonies from the Bible, and it is like a balm to my heart. It’s no surprise that God uses those times when I’m panting after Him to produce growth. Like David, I know what it is like to have my only hope be the truth of God:
I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. (Psalm 119:147-148)
When I have stumbled across something game-changing in this life or have a bright hope, there is little I can do to keep myself from sharing this great news. It’s like that with Scripture, too. Not only are we supposed to hear it for ourselves, we are to tell others about it. We internalize truth and learn it well when we are compelled to live those truths out and to teach them to other people. Like the parable of the Lamp in Luke 8:16, we should let that light shine so that it illuminates the way for others. We can’t only be Hearers of the Word, but also Doers (James 1:22) and Tellers.
Lord, let us pant after You. Let us be brightened by the hope of Scripture and let that hope leak out of our mouths in the way we tell other people about You.
I love it when God shows me something brand new in a passage I’ve read a hundred times! I always looked at the parable of the sower as if the seed (God’s word) was being thrown upon the “soil” of the unsaved, and their receptiveness of the gospel to salvation. That application can certainly be made, but that’s not all it’s talking about. Every heart, saved or lost, is a patch of soil. We hear or read the Word often, at church or in personal devotions, but whether it grows into a beautiful plant in our life depends on the state of the soil in the garden of our hearts. Do we need to throw out some rocks? Pull some weeds? I’ve been guilty of dismissing this parable’s significance for me because I’m already saved. I pray God will help me to clean up my garden to make room for him to grow something amazing in me for his glory!
Dara, I have never thought of it that way. I love that.
That’s awesome! I love how you worded that. That’s a great way to look at it.
YES DARA!! Thank you for that!!!
Thank you for this. Very much a blessing to me :)
Oh God thank you for reminding me where I want to be rather than where I was!
Spreading his word is what we are supposed to do! I can hear my brother saying this and at that time I disagreed with him. Thinking that was left to those that were called such as ministers and priest etc. We all should share God’s word in some way! Like when we were children we were taught ‘sharing is caring’. I get it finally, my dear brother. Thank you, I so needed this!
I love this! :)
This made me think, can others see Christ though me the way I think they do? I needed this today.
I loved this! It was a message I needed to hear today.
Really connected with this, I want to internalize His word so I can think of it when I am quick to anger
The exact lesson I taught my kids in church last week…how neat it is to see God’s way of teaching me the same truth.