We live in a precarious time.
We love to talk about God’s word. We love to argue about what it really means. We love to pontificate on it and analyze it and break it down to pieces.
But when push comes to shove, there are 4 things we must be careful never to do with God’s word:
#1 We Must not Bend it to Suit our Will
I confess. I’ve done it before. When necessary, in order to make God fit into my little life, I’ve picked verses out of context and twisted other verses to suit what is best for me in that moment. We must be careful to always align our lives to God’s word and not the other way around.
#2 We Should not Ignore it and Expect it to Work
This one is so obvious but so common. We barely open God’s word. We refuse to obey His word, yet when He doesn’t jump when we say jump, we doubt Him and question His goodness. If God’s word is going to have power in your life and mine, let’s start by paying attention to it.
#3 We Ought Not Equate it with our Spiritual Experience
I read a very popular author write a very popular article recently on the power of her spiritual experience. She spoke about how God speaks to us, and never once mentioned God’s word. This is dangerous and deadly. While God might use your personal experience to draw you closer to him and make you aware of His presence, it is His word that speaks loudest, clearest and best. It trumps any spiritual experience you’re still seeking.
#4 We Can Never Use it to Earn God’s Favor
God doesn’t want us to read His word daily in order to appease Him. He isn’t impressed when we can recite whole books of the Bible. The point of reading and knowing His word is that it is the means to know Him. His word reveals to us who He is. It gives us the security we need to run to Him and know His thoughts. It is powerful, but no matter how much (or how little) time you spent reading the word today, God’s favor is yours in Christ not because of anything you’re doing but because of who He is. If you’re a reader of God’s word, then you already know this!
Here’s the thing about God’s word, the Bible: you can believe it and choose to obey it or you can reject it.
So what are you doing with God’s word in your life?
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