Created by James E. Woodson III, Journal Your Journey is a daily editorial blog designed to give hope, inspire, and influence its readers to live better, more fulfilled lives. Through divine inspiration, Journal Your Journey delivers daily lessons learned centered around what it truly means to live a life led by God. As you read, we hope that you will be inspired and motivated to make a deeper connection with the Creator and that your life might be transformed. Enjoy!
God's word lasts beyond anything else in this world. While cultures and kingdoms change, God's word remains. Isn't it nice that we can build our life around principles that never change?
So who's ground are you building your life on? The shaky ground of culture? Or even of church? Or the solid ground that is eternal?
The Bible is God's love letter to His people. It tells us who we are, who's we are, and the promises he's made and ultimately will keep. The question is, are we reading it? And how would you feel if you wrote a love letter to someone and they just didn't bother to read it?
In Part 4 of the Train Up A Child series, we talked about why meditating on the Word is important. Today, let's continue in that vein.
In both Luke 8:15 and James 1:25, the Bible speaks of keeping or continuing in the Word.
Keeping and continuing in the Word is all that meditation is.
It is repeating the Word over and over again until it plants in the soil of your heart.
Joshua 1:8 instructs us to meditate on the Word of God day and night. To keep the Word always on our lips. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray continually. Psalm 1:1-2 tells us we will be blessed for doing so.
God commands us to meditate on His word, not out of His own selfishness or need to control us. Rather, God commands us to meditate on the Word because He knows it will bring blessings and good fruit in our life (Luke 8:15; James 1:25).
In Part 3 of the "Train Up A Child" series, we talked about why God instructs us to train through meditating on His Word. This week, let's address the slightly different question of why meditating on the Word is important.
In Luke 8, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower, in which He likens the Kingdom of God to a farmer sowing seed. Some seed falls on good soil and yields a one hundred-fold harvest (Luke 8:8). Some seed falls by the wayside, is trampled, and eaten by birds (Luke 8:5). Other seed falls on rocky soil and withers (Luke 8:6). Still other seed falls among the thorns and gets choked (Luke 8:7).
Jesus later explains to His disciples that the seed that falls on good soil represents people that hear the Word, apply it and bear fruit (Luke 8:15). The seed that falls by the wayside represents people who hear the Word but the devil comes and snatches the seed out of their hearts (Luke 8:12). The seed that falls on rocky soil represent people that receive the Word with joy but fall back into disobedience because of temptation (Luke 8:13). The seed that falls among the thorns and gets choked represents people who hear the Wordbut get caught up in the cares of the world and bear no fruit (Luke 8:14).
In every case, the people hear the Word. But only in one of them does the Word actually take root and bear fruit.
So there has to be a difference between simply hearing the Word and bearing its fruit.
Meditating on the Word is the difference!
For more on this concept, check out Pastor Ron Carpenter’s message below starting at 32:04.
Ultimately, God wants us to be more than just hearers of the Word (James 1:22). He wants us to bear fruit and be world changers. But we can't do that simply by hearing the Word. If that's the extent of our experience with the Word, we are no different than the seed that falls by the wayside. Or among the thorns. Or on the rocks.
God wants His Word to yield a harvest. But it's going to require more than just hearing the Word.
"He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'" ~ Luke 11:28
A few weeks ago, my pastor preached a sermon on money management.
The key scripture was Proverbs 22:7, which reads "the rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
One of my biggest goals for 2010 is to be debt-free. So, immediately following the sermon, I decided to cut up my credit cards. Yes, cut up ALL of my credit cards. ALL of them.
It was a sacrifice, yes. But, just one month later, with the exception of our mortgage and a student loan, Michele and I will be completely debt-free - meaning Capitol One, VISA, MasterCard, AmEx, and Bank of America will no longer have any control over us.
My point is that while most folks think the Bible is only there to provide spiritual guidance, that couldn't be further from the truth. The Word of God has the power to solve ALL of our problems and answer ALL of our questions, if we would just be obedient to what it says.
After all, in Proverbs 28:20, God said that He would bless those who were faithful to His word. So, find your answers today and be obedient to what He tells you. I promise you, it'll change your life forever.
