“For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” —Hebrews 4:12
God is at work in you. You can hinder or receive His work and let Him shape your present and future. There is a key to receiving the blessings that go with the process.
Many of us eagerly started January of the new year with great intentions. Exercise. Eat right. Follow a program to help us grow spiritually. This is the year to get it right.
If you stick with any resolution, make God’s Word the priority, with the right motives.
When I was young, I studied the Word zealously, approaching the Bible with a list of questions, determined to find answers. Nothing wrong with that, except that often my motives were skewed by my desire to dazzle others with my vast Bible knowledge. But as I matured, the Word worked in my life. I began to realize the depth, the riches, and the power God’s Word has in my life. I see something new every time I read familiar passages and long-told stories. Now I can honestly say I don’t know as much today as I thought I did 20 years ago.
God’s Word is living, piercing, and works in our lives in ways we cannot fathom.
A linear philosophy depicts life as a straight line from past to future. Since the past is gone and the future unknowable, the emphasis becomes the present. All that matters is now.
But in the Hebrew culture, in which God’s Word was inspired, life is a circle. Recorded histories take meticulous care to recount events, records, and genealogies. The past and its lessons are a window to our future. When you first learn a truth, it is only on one level. Each time we return to that lesson, in life or history, we gain a new level of understanding and enlightenment. We never fully arrive—we just keep going deeper and higher and gaining new understanding. Studying God’s Word is like that.
This year, consistently allow God’s Word into your life. It will change you, inspire you, and lead you to a greater understanding of your God, yourself, and your world.
