Do we consciously make time for the study of God’s Word? It is easy to get caught up in our daily routine. We intend to study, but the things of this life get in the way….until one day, one moment, you need a Scripture and no Bible is at hand. A ready recall is all you have, and there is no way to get that Scripture but to study.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” II Timothy 2:15
“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105
There have been numerous times when speaking with people in which I have a very small window of time to teach. That specific opportunity will never come again. I may get other opportunities, but not that “one” moment. When you really think of that, you will then realize that it is an undeniable truth. Teaching truth is a tremendous responsibility. Situations occur in every life, every day, and as you come into contact with those situations, opportunities come to us in which there is a split moment in which to teach, or at least plant that “seed” of truth in their hearts, leaving that person/persons with “a seed of truth.” Coupled with that is an active faith.
“Out of 100 men, 1% will read the Bible, and the other 99% will read the Christian.”
“If a brother and sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:15-17
As I prepare for services each Lord’s day, and before I leave, I have a quiet place that I go, and pray for many, and my students are always included in that prayer, that I may teach truth to them, that they will understand, and learn. They look to me for answers, and without knowing His Word and meditating on that Word, I would be unable to do that. I tell my students as I hold up the Bible, that we are reading the Mind of God, and that is where we go for the pattern of the Lord’s church, the acts of worship, baptism, how to treat our fellow man, for comfort, instruction and how we are to conduct our lives. Teaching others is a tremendous responsibility, and what I teach regarding truth to them is very important to me. How I teach, what I teach, what God hears me teach, is a sobering thought, knowing I will one day be judged by His Word and how I handled it. Therefore, I pray before I enter class, and before I sit at the computer to write articles.
“He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My Words, hath One that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” John 12: 48
We need to stop, be quiet, and focus on those the Words of Life, to meditate and study His Word without interruption, and to learn what He wants us to know as His children, and what the world needs to know to become His children.
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11
“Reading forces you to be quiet in a world that no longer makes a place for that.”
Eileen Light