Understanding is only part of what we do when we read the bible. The best habit to get into from the start is to remember that the bible is about Jesus.
As I open my study guide on Stay Free... a resource for new christians to go through and I get a chance to go through them with a student. The first one is staying Free and staying in the Word. I am confronted by the quote above - what a reminder!! The bible is about Jesus. It always has been - He has been there since the start of creation, since before that!! This is remarkable because I still always come to the bible and think its about me and its a manual for what I should do and how I should be a Christian. I hear others say that too and then my heart does a quick jump into the truth, that actually it isn't about me...it is about Jesus. Which is exactly why we should stay in the Word of God... We shouldn't stay in it because we have to or because we think it will tell us what to do... but we should stay in it, with our nose pressed to the ink because it is about Jesus and we want to know more about Him!!!
In Chapter 4 of Marks Gospel, Jesus explains how the Word is the seed and how we can recieve the word in different ways. Does that mean anything to us now that we are Christians? Absolutly! We may not be the rocky ground, but we could be the soil that has thorns.
The question to ask is - What will we do with Gods word, how will we respond??
Will we submit to His word or will we reject it? Will we submit to Jesus or will we reject Him? Even as Christians our hearts can be so hard and thats why there is a warning in Hebrews 3:15 ~ "As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Do not harden your heart. Delight in His word, recieve Him with Joy.
But that means reading His word in the first place. Staying in the Word means reading and engaging with the word of God. It means seeing Jesus walk out from the pages, it means using scripture as prayers, song, lamentation and to store up in our hearts. It means knowing Jesus more and asking the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. Don't let it become a chore, don't let it become boring. Read the bible, enjoy it. See that the creator of the world has spoken and is speaking to you about himself.
This is amazing!!! Be hungry for the word of God, not for knowledge but because Jesus is amazing and we want to know Him more.
Stay in the Word.
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