Thursday, May 31

THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018

"The statutes you have laid down are righteous;

    they are fully trustworthy." (Psalm 119:138)

As we review God's Word together each day, have you found it to come more alive for you?  Have you seen it challenge your thinking and encourage you?

Today, I would like to offer a few thoughts on the value of continuing in God's Word:

(1) It reshapes our hearts and minds.  Without reading, reflecting on, and studying God's Word, we would be subject solely to the influences of this world and our own thoughts.  We would consider everything from a worldly perspective and would be selfishly motivated and fixed on our own pleasure.  We would struggle to discern between truth and falsehood.  In short, without God's Word, our hearts and minds would be led astray and liable to the corruption of unrighteous thinking.

(2) It encourages us to place our hope in what lasts forever.  God's Word puts the reality of this brief life in stark relief vs. the stretch of eternity.  As James writes, our lives are but a "vapor" or a "mist."  Living only for this life — and forgetting the grander scheme of eternity — makes little sense, once God has revealed the nature of eternity to us.  God has made the hope of heaven and the guarantee of His presence both today and always to be secure, lasting promises for us.

(3) It helps us to understand ourselves.  In its historical accounts, we see the Bible characters with facets of our own personalities.  We see their shortcomings and how God showed His tremendous grace nonetheless.  We understand that God dealt individually with His children as individuals.  Psalm 139:13-18 confirms that God created us beautifully.  He knew us from before our creation, and He has plans and purposes for our lives.

(4) It reveals the beauty and character of God our King.   God's Word points directly to Him.  It highlights His plan of redemption, shaped from the Fall through the complete restoration in Revelation 21.  It explains the nature of the three Persons and unity of God.  It has depth and riches that instruct us for a lifetime, but anyone may understand its core message.  It fills us with a hunger and thirst for righteousness, and then we may become wise on how to fulfill that desire. (Matthew 5:6)

We have now completed five of our 12 months.  We rejoice in God's Word and the One revealed through it.

Lord God, thank You for Your beauty and character as revealed through Your Word.  Help us to be more sensitive to the lessons that You wish us to learn in 2018.  Give us a hunger and thirst for righteousness, and strengthen us to live for Your Kingdom rather than our own small agenda.  Whet our appetites for Your Word over the coming seven months, helping us to finish strong in 2018.  We love You and honor You today.  In Jesus's Name, amen.