Are you thriving or just getting by?
My German shepherd was starving to death, and we didn’t know what
to do. Sophie got twelve, yes 12 cups of food a day and at a year old, she was
only forty pounds. After many tests, the vet diagnosed her with a pancreatic
problem, called EPI, which kept her from digesting her food. As a result,
whatever she ate went through her system without nourishing or feeding her
body. With the help of pancreatic enzymes, Sophie is now thriving.
As a culture, America is starving. So are some of her churches. Why?
We live to eat but don’t eat to live. We are not feeding on the one thing we
need most, the Word. God made us to have intimacy with him through his Holy
Spirit, prayer, and Scripture. Without the catalyst of God’s Word, we won’t thrive
spiritually.
We need to digest the Word before we can absorb it and do what it
says. But if we barely open the Book how will that happen?
Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) says, “For
the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and spirit…”
The word living means God’s words are alive, and they give life. Active is the
Greek word energes which resembles
the English word energy. God’s Word and words are full of life and energy.
God’s words are to achieve something in our heart and life. Scripture needs to become
more than head knowledge. We shouldn’t let it go
in one ear and out the other, because we need the Word to be heart knowledge so
it can be absorbed and nourishing to our very soul.
God’s word is sharper
than a sword, able to pierce through the soul and spirit. The word pierce
means to penetrate or get through. This may be one reason we may not care
to read the Bible. Unless the Word penetrates our heart, we will not grow and
change.
Our soul is our mind,
will, and emotions, and our spirit is what the Creator breathed into us. They
are often at war with one another. Our spirit communes with God through the
Holy Spirit while our soul is everything which makes us who we are.
So, why would the Word divide the soul and spirit? God wants us to be Spirit-driven, not soul-driven. The Spirit is love, peace, truth, patient, gentle, kind, self-controlled, faithful, and joyful. This is how God wants us to function.
The soul can be moody,
self-centered, turbulent, depressed, thoughtless, self-driven, lacking
self-control, and deceitful. Satan influences our soul, by manipulating our thoughts. If we are not in the Word of
Truth, under the perfect power of the
Spirit of Truth, we get off track.
God wants us to be Spirit-led
and Word-led. One without the other is only half the equation. Unfortunately,
many overdo one or the other. We become so Spirit-led we assume everything we
think is of the Holy Spirit and will act
and speak out without the guidelines of Scripture. However, being overly Word-lead
can stifle or quench the Holy Spirit so we can no longer hear him because
everything becomes an intellectual experience. There needs to be a balance.
In Hebrews 5:11-12, the author rebukes his readers for
becoming dull of hearing. He says, “For though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the
oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food.”
The Greek word for dull
refers to “a condition of spiritual apathy and laziness that prevents
spiritual development.” [1] Isn’t
that how we can feel, too?
Studying Scripture takes time and effort.
God does not think less of us if we are not in his Word.
But, have you ever thought how it must sadden him to see the time we invest in things having no Heavenly value?
Do we spend too much
time on our phones, iPads or binge watching our favorite shows on Netflix? Yes.
Do we need to improve? Yes. Am I preaching to myself? Yes.
The answer lies in
putting those things away for a set time each day and getting out our Bibles to
let the Holy Spirit guide us through the Word one verse at a time. Don’t set
unrealistic goals. Reading one verse and letting God speak to you through it is
better than reading one chapter or an entire book just so we can say we did it.
If you are a parent, can you imagine letting your ten or fifteen-year-old still drink from a sippy cup or a bottle for each meal? Unfortunately, that is the state of a lot of churches in our country. We need more than milk; we need solid food. We need to get back to reading, discussing, and studying God’s Word. Our spiritual health depends on it.
[1] Wiersbe,
W. W. 1996, c1989. The Bible exposition commentary
