It is New Year's Day 2014! I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but I do contemplate on the past year. It usually involves looking at my walk with the Lord and then I look forward to what I would like to see this coming year. 2013 was a year of great growth as I enjoyed truly digging in the Word of God and drawing near to my Lord and Savior. In looking forward the thing that I desire more than anything else is to have more of Christ. It is to have my mind and heart so saturated with the Word of God that my joy in Him would overflow to my husband, children, church family and those who don't know Christ. I have been praying the same thing for every person in the body of Christ. It has saddened my heart to come to the realization that people rather read books about God, the Bible, and Christian Living than read the Bible itself. For some they have a strong aversion to the Word of God. Why?
The answers can be many, but I believe they are missing out on what will fix their marriages, heal their homes, help them with depression, teach them how to be the parents that God wants them to be. "For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and morrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 (Emphasis added) The Bible is the only book that will convict of sin, show you the way of salvation and give the hope of forgiveness of sins, and promises to hang onto when the trials feel unbearable. The Bible is where we know what God is really like not as we think Him to be but as He is - Holy, Righteous, Just, Merciful, Gracious, Unchanging, Self-Existent, Self-Sufficient, Eternal, All-knowing, All-present, All-powerful, Infinite, Love just to name a few of His attributes. Through His Word we can actually know (unfortunately English has only one word for know) Him in a relational way. You don't draw near to Him through experiences but through His Word (the Bible) and praying. The marriage relationship is a great example. A marriage isn't about experiences you had with you husband or wife but the complete relationship. If you just talk at your husband would you ever get to know him and what he is thinking or feeling. Prayer is us talking to God but we have to listen to what God has to say and what is on His heart and that is through the reading and studying of His Word.
I homeschool my boys and it is both parents responsibility to train up a child in the way he is to go. Unfortunately, I have seen families where the wife puts the whole weight of that awesome responsibility on their husband completely and vise versa . Moms need to not only feed their child with healthy food to help them grow but they need to feed them through Word of God to help to know this great God they tell them they love. Parents, our mission field is first in our own homes. Children are able to see if you are all talk or if you truly love God and His Word more than anything. I look at Moms in a very unique analogy. When we nurse our babies we have to make sure we eat well balance meals so that the milk would have all the nutrients that the baby needs. If we are really hungry we need to eat first so the baby will get enough milk. It is the same with "feeding" them spiritually. We have to dig into Scripture and "feed" on the Word of God ourselves so that we can "feed" (teach) our children correctly handling the Word of Truth. If you don't they will not get feed enough or well. They will also not get to see what a life looks like that is saturated with the Word of God, instead they will witness how fleshy you can be.
My prayer for every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is that 2014 would be a year you purpose to get in the Word and study it to know the God who saved you and then pass it to the next generation out of your love for Christ.
