You Need the Word to Truly Live

Reading the Word of God with consistency is one of the greatest challenges that most believers face. While there may be an initial enthusiasm that motivates a certain level of determination and discipline, the average end result is the same: what we have begun to set out to achieve, we have not continued unto its completion. Why is this the case? Peering into God's word itself, we can uncover multiple principles which progress our capacity to train our minds in desire and discipline necessary to be consistently in the Word of God.

The first principle to consider is this: we pursue only that which we truly desire, and we desire only that which we find valuable. If any person were challenged to fast for a great length of time, there might be an initial willingness to do so. As time progressed, however, the human body would begin screaming and writhing in desperation. Eventually, the hunt for sustenance would progress from a casual afterthought to a dominating and frenzied pursuit. This would be unsurprising because we understand that the body needs food to maintain its energy to survive. At its base level, we could say that the pursuit of food is motivated by a desire to continue living because we highly value being alive.

The reality we must confront ourselves with is that typically we neither desire nor value that which God offers.

Set before every believer is the reality that in His grace, God offers us the first-fruits of the resurrection by making available to us the presence of His own Spirit within our bodies. The same power that can overcome physical death is set within our bones, available through faith. We have access into the presence of the Most High God. What's more is that the connection to this life, this power, this freedom, is explicitly stated to be dependent on our connection to Christ through His Word! John 15 is clear in its statement. Fruitful branches are those which are connected to the vine that is Christ, and that connection is deeply related to whether or not God's word abides in our hearts.

Abide. It is such a powerful word. Abiding in the word (and the word abiding in you) does not simply mean that word of God has been read, understood, or processed. It means that God's word has been integrated into the very essence of your personality. It means that His word takes residence in your mind (as the young ones say "it lives rent free in your head"). The duality of the abiding (God's word abiding in you and you abiding therefore in His word) means two things. First, to abide in His word is to have a distinct familiarity and comfort in God's word, such that you can navigate it freely and recall it without external reference (no one needs a picture of their own house to describe it or understand its layout). That you treat God's word as the place of rest for your soul, the place of return from your adventures out, the place where you are relaxed and most yourself; this is what is meant by abiding in His word. But for His word to abide in you is to have the reciprocal relationship. Your own heart should have no barriers or hidden parts to God's word. There should be no piece of your soul that is untouchable or unreachable to His probing word. Nothing about yourself should be hidden before Him, but should rather sit freely open to His examination and correction. This is what His word abiding in you is all about. His word resides as the owner of your heart, free to do as He will with it.

But we don't enter into this relationship with His word. We are too afraid to be probed or else too distracted to care. Ultimately, at the deepest level, we find that we simply do not comprehend, nor value that which is being offered when God says to us that we have everlasting life and resurrection power available to us. We would rather have our physical appetites satisfied, our self-esteems boosted by affirmations, our struggles mediated by conveniences, or our discomfort masked by entertainment. To truly live in the power of Christ neither makes sense, nor seems appealing because we are too wrapped up in ourselves.

This is a precarious spot to find our hearts in. Where can the value of what God has offered us be truly comprehended and appreciated? Only in a direct and personal view of the cross. As we gaze upon its wonder, we must wrestle with what is being communicated on the cross. There is an insurmountable cost for which we must conclude we cannot pay for ourselves. There is an unimaginable power for which we must conclude we cannot fabricate by our own means. There is an immensity of love for which we must conclude we have no comprehension nor experience with. There is a gravity of glory displayed for which we must conclude as being worthy of our full determination and discipline.

Do you want to have bible verses in your memory? Do you want to sacrifice time and energy for focused study on the bible? Do you want to read and re-read the same book everyday? No? That's fine, because those questions aren't deep enough to address that which you desire. 

Do you want to know Christ and the power of His Spirit? Do you want to experience in your soul what is meant by being a partaker of Christ's divine nature? Do you want comprehend God's character clearly, free of the deceptive ideologies of your flesh, the world, and the devil? Yes? Then there is only one choice, and that is to embrace the desperation born of understanding the necessity of God's word in your life.