From Pastor Lee
October 2, 2022
Several years ago, a friend of mine was talking about his Bible study habits. Part of his early morning routine included his small dog. It was during a children's sermon that he spoke of how every morning his dog would lay in his lap and allow him to lay his opened Bible on her back. Thus, she became his Bible holder during his devotion time. Sad thing is that his dog probably has more contact with the Bible than most humans. If only we would pick up our Bible every day and hold it in our hands, then maybe, just maybe, we might read out of it, even if it is only for ten, fifteen or twenty minutes. Why is it so difficult to get into the habit of delving into the Word of God every day? I wonder if maybe our approach to God's word is all wrong. What I mean by that is that do we only read it for gaining knowledge? Now, that is not a bad thing. However, gaining knowledge for the sake of just having it really doesn't serve much purpose. As I said, it is better to have it than not to have it, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is an admirable thing to do. However, it is what we do with what we know that really matters. In other words, how we apply and live what God is telling us. It seems to me as I read and study the Word of God that one story from the Bible keeps corning to mind. It is the story of the rich young man, and the story is found in Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30. The young man seems to be a very outstanding young man with a thorough knowledge of God and his Word. He as all the right answers when questioned, but when it comes to acting on what he knows he just can't seem to bring himself around to shifting his trust in his knowledge, wealth, and way of life to trusting Jesus as Jesus calls upon him to follow, leaving all his stuff to those who are poor. Maybe, one reason it is so difficult to get into reading God's Word consistently is because we read only to gain knowledge, and if we've basically read it throughout our lives, we think it offers us nothing new, helpful, or useful. It's just knowledge and nothing more. I pray that we would engage Jesus in conversation as we read, study, and meditate on God's Worid, that we would come to see (hear) again Jesus calling us to do more than just having a knowledge of him that leads to nowhere with exception of nodding our heads "yes" to him. Yes, that is a scary thing to engage Jesus because you never know what he will ask us to give up to follow him.
Come on, if my friend's dog can hold the Bible every morning certainly, we can at least find and dust off our Bibles, open them and do more than just read, but encounter the living Christ. Who knows, it may just change our lives.
Lee
