When You Want To Be Part of a Bigger Story: Don’t Let The Word Stop With You

This man has been such a faithful prayer warrior and friend to our family — David Platt‘s a deeply humble servant with a heart stretching wide for the Word of God and the beauty of His people across the nations and he’s seen firsthand how the Word doesn’t just shape us but is meant to spill over, spread out, and reach into the farthest corners of the earth. It’s a humble honor to welcome David Platt to the farm’s table today, drawing us near to the heart of God through the living and active power of His Word.

Guest Post by David Platt

I have often asked followers of Jesus this question: Are you a receiver or a reproducer of God’s Word?

The illustration that always comes to my mind involves a group of persecuted brothers and sisters I once spent time with in Sudan.

Imagine walking with me into a thatched hut with a small group of Sudanese church leaders, where we sit down to study God’s Word together. As soon as we begin, we notice that each of them is writing down all that we’re discussing. They come up to us afterward and say, “We are going to take everything we have learned from God’s Word, translate it into our languages, and share it with our tribes.”

They are not just listening to receive; they are listening to reproduce.

So what about you?

I think most of us, at best, are prone to stop at receiving God’s Word. Even if we desire to learn God’s Word, our default is still to listen with a self-centered mindset that asks, What can I get out of it? But the second-greatest commandment is to love others as ourselves. That means we need to reframe this question—and our entire mindset—so that we ask, What can I get out of God’s Word and how can I share it with others?

“After two thousand years of Christian history, during which many people gave their lives for spreading God’s Word to different language groups, you and I could be the generation of God’s people to actually complete this task.“

God’s Word is worth giving our lives to spread.

After all, that’s how we have God’s Word: because people have given their lives to spread it to us.

Whenever you hold a Bible in your hands that is written in your language, you see the labors of people who sacrificed their lives for your sake. For me, when I see the Bible in English, I realize that people died to translate it into my language centuries ago, and I thank God for all the people who have worked to make sure it was passed on to me. What a treasure we possess in being able to hear God speak to you and me!

And that’s the point. This Word is not just for you and me. There are over seven thousand languages in the world, but because the Bible has not yet been translated into many of these languages, millions upon millions of people are unable to read God’s Word. Multitudes of others have access to only parts of Scripture.

This is a sobering reality, but here’s the good news: We have the opportunity in our generation to translate the Bible into every one of these remaining languages. Due to a variety of factors, including technological advancements and unprecedented cooperation and collaboration among Bible translation workers, it is possible that almost every person on earth will have a copy of God’s Word in their own language within the next several decades.

Do you realize the time in which we are living? After two thousand years of Christian history, during which many people gave their lives for spreading God’s Word to different language groups, you and I could be the generation of God’s people to actually complete this task.

So let’s spread His Word today.

Let’s start by simply sharing His Word with people around us. In Jesus’ parting command after his resurrection, we find him instructing his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them in his name (Matthew 28:19–20).

When we see the word teaching, many of us think, Since I’m not a preacher or don’t have a gift for teaching God’s Word, this is not for me. And yes, the Bible does talk about gifts and callings related to teaching God’s Word, but that’s not the only way it speaks of passing on his Word to others.

“God’s Word should saturate our conversations all day long, from the kitchen table to the classroom to the office to the streets – wherever we go and amidst whatever we’re doing“

In fact, God says to all of his people, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).

In other words, God’s Word should saturate our conversations all day long, from the kitchen table to the classroom to the office to the streets – wherever we go and amidst whatever we’re doing.

And these instructions from God in the Old Testament lay the foundation for Jesus’ instructions in the New Testament. Jesus is telling each of us to pass God’s Word on to others in a way that helps them know and obey it.

Then, let’s make God’s Word accessible to people who are far from us.

Let’s use the resources God has entrusted to us to get this Word that we possess to every people group and person in the world.

In the end, let’s live every day like God’s Word is not intended to stop with us when it is intended to spread through us.

This book is a must read — and to have on hand for family, for gifts — deeply encouraging, needful read!

David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church in metro Washington, D.C. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations. David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.

His latest book, How to Read the Bible: A Simple Guide to Deeper Intimacy with God, is a simple and practical guide to studying and understanding Scripture that will help you see the Bible as a priceless treasure that reveals God’s love for you and His relentless pursuit of a deeper relationship. As you dive into the richness of the Bible using this proven, step-by-step approach, you will learn to avoid common pitfalls in interpretation, savor scriptures through meditation and prayer, and apply timeless truths to every area of your life. How to Read the Bible equips you to better understand not only the Word of God but also the love of God and His plan for the world.

{Our humble thanks to Thomas Nelson for their partnership in today’s devotional.}