09/25/2024
This morning we will contemplate having a thirst and love for the Bible; the written Word of God. Some approach the Holy Bible as if it were like any other piece of literature, but it is far more than that; it is the inspired Word of God and has been influencing man, and his secular literature, from the moment it was first spoken, written, and lived. We have seen evidence of this in man’s poetry, prose, and speech from the moment Adam was formed and it became focal to his thought, and life. But “The Word of God” is much more than this. Do we find ourselves referring to God’s written Word, God, and Jesus Christ, interchangeably as “The Word of God?”
“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever."
1 Peter 1:23-25 ESV
Pastor E.M. Bounds spoke of the impact of prayer on our love of God's Word. He wrote these words as he describes this relationship between man, and God’s Word:
"Prayer invariably generates a love for the Word of God. Prayer leads people to obey the Word of God and puts an unspeakable joy into the obedient heart. Praying people and Bible-reading people are the same kind of people... Bible reading and praying are the distinguishing traits of those who strive to know and please God." - E. M. Bounds
When we pray we strengthen our relationship with God and as that happens, the love that accompanies it grows as well. I think back on the early days when my wife Ann and I were just getting to know each other. We would talk for hours about our lives and who we were; I couldn't know enough about her... in fact I still can't. It is the same with God.
As we pray, our thirst for Him, and fully knowing Him, increases and our primary source for knowing and understanding Him is the Bible. So it is natural that our insatiable desire to understand Him would lead us to reading His inspired Word. Prayer establishes the relationship, and the Bible tells us about who God is, about His will, and how we should serve and follow Him.
“but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1 John 2:5-6 ESV
So prayer generates love and love a thirst for knowledge, and the Holy Bible becomes our source for understanding and perfecting our desire for the Lord. This is more than infatuation, it is the irresistible force of love... the divine call of the Holy Spirit who gives us remembrance and understanding of the Word. Listen to the psalmist…
“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Psalms 119:97 ESV
We live our spiritual lives like young lovers who can't know enough about each other. We meditate day and night on the Word of God in an effort to know Him, and then we speak with Him directly in our prayers. So the more we pray the more we love, and this prompts our need for a deeper understanding of Him... then we fall to our knees and pray all the more. This becomes a never ending cycle of prayer and Word, whose beginning is as much a mystery to us as God Himself, and whose culmination, like true love, knows no end.
It might seem odd to quote from Lamentation to end a thought founded on prayer and love, but there is no greater description of our loving relationship. Listen…
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."”
Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV
Let’s pray that our desire for God never fades away, but increases day by day. Let’s pray that our spiritual relationship with Him continues to serve as the template for our earthly life. And, let’s pray that we find God and Jesus Christ, new every morning and uncover more of their mystery with each passing moment… all of this made possible through His eternal and Holy Word.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Holy Word in which we find the Genesis of man, the story of our faith in you, your amazing love for us, our redemption from sin through the life, death, and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ, and the ultimate revelation of the eternal love story between us that knows no end. Thank you Lord for leading us through your many interactions with mankind, and for teaching us through them about how we are meant to behave in our relationship with you. Thank you for the superficial aspects of your Word that even a child can understand, but more than this Father, thank you for the layer upon layer of righteous thought, prophesies, and the intricate, ever evolving, and endless. depth, that is you. Help us through your Holy Spirit to remember and understand your Word, and what is contained therein. Lead us in an ever deepening insight into who we are meant to be, and become, as you perfect us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose Word is life, and in which we come to realize not only who you are now, but who you have been eternally. Your Word thrills our hearts Father, and in it we find that you are merciful and good as you who reveal yourself so completely to us. Help us to pray as we should today, and reveal more of yourself to us. We pray without ceasing so that our relationship with you, and understanding of who you are, will continue to grow deeper… lead us in this way Lord, and never let our thirst for you be quenched. Never let you, your written Word, and Jesus Christ, cease to excite us and draw us closer to you.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:1 ESV
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 ESV
Rich Forbes