God’s Word For You

This book I'm holding is not an easy one to read. In fact, it can be very difficult to understand. For one thing, it was written thousands of years ago in ancient cultures very different from ours. Their popular songs, their well-known stories, their familiar sayings are all unfamiliar to us. In addition, it was written in languages that none of us speak. So most people can only read it in an English translation, which means we have to trust that the translator is reliable.

Not only that, but this book is a hodgepodge of literary forms. Within its pages we have history, poetry, songs, wisdom literature, prophetic writing, biographies, letters, parables, and lists of who-begat-whom. Understanding what you're reading depends—in large part—on understanding which of those forms it is. In other words, the way you interpret a poem is different than the way you interpret a personal letter from the Apostle Paul, and you can come up with some pretty strange ideas if you don't know what you're dealing with—the book of Revelation is a perfect example.

So in light of all that, why read the Bible? Why put forth the effort trying to understand this document? Here's why: If you really want to know God, the path of your spiritual journey goes through this book. Bottom line. The Bible is where God can be found. He chose to reveal Himself to us, in all of his complexity, through words. There's so much that could be said about that: God created the world by speaking words; the disciple John describes Jesus as "the Word made flesh," the whole idea of God using words to do His work is incredibly important. It's so important that I'm confident in saying this: if you don't know the Bible that well, if you aren't touching the Bible and its words aren't touching you, you're starving. You're spiritually starving. If you're not on a steady diet of God's Word, then there's a reason why you feel withered and weak in your soul. You're not eating.

Knowing God; knowing His Son Jesus doesn't just "happen." This is not information that is just downloaded into your brain automatically. It takes more than just good intentions. It takes concrete actions and regular habits. It takes carving out time from your schedule, sitting down with a devotional book or your Bible or listening to a Bible-based broadcast of some kind; whatever it is, you've got to do it. And when you resolve to do it, and then do it, do you know what you're doing? You're letting God talk to you. You're allowing the life-changing power of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to come into your life and minister to your needs.

Listen again to what God said through the prophet Isaiah: "As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out of my mouth. It will not return to me void, or empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Do you hear what God is saying? Every time you hear His Word, there is a purpose for it. God wants to achieve something in you, and He does that by sending out His words. You hear them or read them and they immediately go to work—God's creative and powerful words strengthen your faith, give you understanding, open your eyes to the truth, draw you closer to God in love so that you will trust and rely on Him more fully. By God's own promise, his words will not come back to Him empty. God always has something just for you in His Word when you choose to listen.

Now sometimes that means His Words will expose what's in your heart. Those words penetrate deeply into your heart until they get to the truth. They reveal your hidden thoughts and attitudes. What you see there can be uncomfortable. It can be disturbing. It's no fun to come face to face with my own sin. But it is necessary. God's Word must convict me before I can be set free. I have to realize just how much trouble I'm in on my own, or the whole idea of being saved will ring hollow. But once we are convinced that we do, in fact, deserve "temporal," here-and-now punishment, not to mention eternal punishment for our sin; once you face your sin and weakness and admit that it's there; then you can truly receive the rescue God has given through his Son. His words of forgiveness, strength, and change give what they promise.

Do you understand? God's Word searches our hearts and shows us what's there, and it isn't pretty. But His Word also has the power to change you, to renew you, to transform you. The more time you give God's Word, the more you will think like God thinks. The more time you spend listening to God, the more you will love what He loves and hate what He hates. The more you let God's Word in, the more you will be able to distinguish between truth and lies, good and evil. The one thing that you've been chasing after, but never quite able to get your hands on; the love that you have always craved, is right there for you…if you will just let God talk to you through the Bible. He's written you this letter; He's backed up everything He says with action; but you have to read it and take it to heart and do something with it.

Imagine this scenario with me: let's pretend that you work for me. You are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I'm interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to go to Europe and stay there until a new branch office is established. I make the arrangements to leave for six to eight months, and I leave you in charge of stateside operations. Before I go, I tell you that I will be emailing you regularly to give direction and instruction. Then, I leave and you stay. Months pass. Every few days I email you and you receive them at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations—and my concern for you—in those emails. Finally, the day comes for me to return.

Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office, and I am stunned to find grass and weeds growing up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the building and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing, the carpet hasn't been vacuumed in a long time, and no one seems concerned about anything. I ask for you, and someone in the lounge area mumbles something about you being somewhere down the hall. I bump into you as you're finishing a game of checkers with our sales manager. I ask to have a word with you.

"What in the world is going on?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" you reply.

"Well, look at this place! Didn't you get any of my emails?"

"Emails? Oh yeah, sure. Got every one of them. In fact, we have an email study once a week since you left. Some of those things you wrote were really interesting. Some of us have even committed the stuff you wrote to memory! Really thought-provoking!"

"Okay, you got my emails—you studied them and talked about them and even memorized them—but what did you do about them?"

"Do? You mean, we were supposed to do all that stuff? Sorry!"

God's Word can change you from the inside out and take your life in a whole new direction, but it takes discipline and determination. More than that, you have to do what the words say. But once you push yourself, it starts to snowball. The more you read and hear, the more the God of your imagination is replaced by the true God, who loves you so much it killed Him. He tells you this in His own words. And what words they are.

These are the words that created the world. These are the words that stilled storms, healed the sick and raised the dead. These are the words that announced that the due bill for our sin has been paid in full. There are the words that clam your fears; that forgive you when the guilt is piling up; the words that assure you of healing power when you are sick and that reassure you of God's presence in your loneliness. Jesus speaks to you through the pages of the Bible and promises that he will always be there, walking through life with you. There is more life beyond that he can't wait to show you. Just hold His hand and listen.

"As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

What might that purpose be for you? There's only one way to find out. Amen.