09/12/2021
You may not be one who likes to read, and because of this you find yourself straying away from scripture, but in fact, scripture is meant to be spoken, recited, and repeated over and over again within our lives. This is especially true of what we find in the gospels as we study the life of Jesus. So we should speak the Word to one another, and live it out during every day of our life. The realization of our hope in God’s Word, and the gospel, is not in its reading, but in our hearing, understanding, and speaking it… in living it out perfectly in our lives.
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Romans 15:4 ESV
I had a cousin that was a woodcarver. From the time he was a boy he studied and worked at this craft until he had perfected it, and was known for the art he produced from wood. He associated with other woodcarvers, and they taught each other the way to use a certain knife, or tool, to achieve the details they wanted to reveal in their art. They could read books about these skills, and indeed they did, but it was in watching and hearing one another doing it, and then repeating it over and over again, that it became natural to them, and perfected in their art. It is the same with our faith, and how the Word of God is perfected in our lives. The realization of the hope we have in believing, is witnessed, not in our recitation, but in our lives, and how we live each day obeying God’s Word. Our hope in being like Jesus Christ is in living each individual verse we hear, and working it to perfection in our daily lives. It is better to live one verse, and master it, than to read every verse in the Bible without giving any of them life, understanding, or hope in us.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;”
Psalm 130:5 ESV
Today let’s take this verse…
“My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.”
Psalm 119:81 ESV
Let’s repeat it aloud to ourselves, and look for ways to make it a part of who we are by living it. Ask yourself questions like “Does my soul really long?”, “Does it long for salvation?”, “Do I hope?”, “Do I hope for what is in God’s Word?”, “Is this central to my life?”, “How?”, “How do I hope in the Word?”… and let’s continue in this way until we have made it a part of who we are.
Maybe we will feel comfortable in having mastered this particular thought, and our hope in it, immediately, perhaps it will take us a few hours, a couple of days, weeks, years, or just maybe we will dwell on it for the rest of our lives. You see, being a woodcarver, a craftsman, or a man of faith, is about focus, perfection, and finding the realization of our hope in the intricate details of its doing. Once we have mastered this verse we should ask the Holy Spirit to lead us on to another, and maybe it will be something that Jesus spoke like this…
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:37 ESV
So we have said that we aren’t someone who likes to read, well, then read a single verse and concentrate on it as you make it who you are, and if you know someone who can’t read then read a single verse to them, and teach them how to become perfect in it as they make it a part of their lives. Today we should begin to make skilled craftsmen and craftswomen of ourselves in God’s Word by finding our hope in it… one verse, and one realized, and perfected, hope, at a time…
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”
Matthew 25:29 NLT
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the abundant wisdom, and the many lessons, that you teach us in every Word you have spoken, or caused to be recorded for our consumption. Thank you for the hope we find in you Lord, for we know that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with you, and that you are the Word, and that in this way our hope is forever in you… the Word. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who loves us, and breathes life into us; one Word at a time. Praised be your name Father for each truth that is revealed to us in scripture, and for every Word that becomes the very breath of life to us. You are merciful Father, and teach us of you, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, one tiny bite of wisdom at a time. Your Word becomes our breath, our nourishment, and the living water of life within us Lord… our spirits long for it. Wash us in the blood of Jesus, and purify us in its redeeming power. Let every Word, and prophecy be fulfilled in Him, and our hope be made reality in us by your grace. Let our eyes be opened, and our ears made to hear your glorious light, and the sound of your wind, as you come into each of us. Teach us by your Spirit, and give us understanding, that we might dwell in your presence forevermore… perfected in each glorious Word.
Rich Forbes