Come to the Stream

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1

The Word of God is the instrument God has chosen to use to give life and to sustain life in His children. Those who walk by faith do so with the confidence that the Bible is true and reliable. We need God’s Word in order to re-create us and also to grow and shape us--like trees firmly planted by streams of water.

Many churches today, by their actions and not necessarily by their confession, have placed a secondary importance on the Bible. They focus on gaining a crowd instead of making disciples. Rather than thinking of new and exciting ways to get people into our churches we should look to how God has used His Word in the past and follow the example set before us.

We should constantly stand in awe of the fact that God would speak to us. Carl F. H. Henry states this well in God, Revelation and Authority, when he says, “God will not be known if He does not speak, and we cannot know Him if He has not spoken a word that we can rely on” We should desire the very words of God more than a starving man desires bread. Yet pitifully we do not. We have filled our lives with so many other things that the Word of God does not even captivate us. Our love for God’s Word should be rooted in the fact that God has spoken words of life to our hearts and we are able, by God's Spirit, to hear and understand and also to bring those very same words to others. Allowing God’s Word to percolate in our lives and sharing that with others is how the church is built. “…the church of God, can only be created around the Word of God” [Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, pg. 36] While the rest of the world’s industries are trying to market their products to a changing populace, God is continuing to build His people together by His Word.

So today, give time to hear God speak through His word. Meditate and listen to Him and may He be glorified in you!
In a future post we will look at how we are to proclaim and hear the Word of God!