Topic 2: It’s time to take the word of God seriously
Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22
Literally; here King Solomon (the wisest king who ever lived) instructs his son in the way that he should go. You will realize that there were no public schools at that time. It was every parent’s responsibility to raise and educate his child in the wisdom or skill he would like the child to specialize. Knowing that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, the truth embedded in this verse applies to us even today. One who is really serious about spiritual growth and maturity in the affairs of God will have to pay more attention to the word of God. Growth does not come on its own; one who wishes to grow will have to take a conscious action to induce that growth.
We must understand that all of us were underdeveloped when we came to the grace of God through Jesus Christ. No one came to the Lord developed. Yes, it is true; some of us may have been highly developed in certain disciplines but now the environment has completely changed. We are like we are in a new country with a completely different language to our own. It is like a soccer player must now learn how to play chess. The game rules are all together different.
How shall we explain this? We come in like a watch which was lying there for some time without a battery. Now that a new battery has been put in; the first thing we need do is to set the time; otherwise we will keep on indicating an incorrect time. Suppose when the first battery went flat, it was five o’clock in the afternoon and a new battery is fitted in at ten o’clock the next morning. No one in his right mind would allow the watch to run without first adjusting the time.
This is the same with everyone who comes to the Lord today. For a long time your battery has been flat and now you’ve just acquired a new one. Before you can be useful, you first have to be adjusted to the gospel time. Many people would just be satisfied they ‘got a new battery and wouldn’t bother to have their time adjusted.
Like a new battery, Jesus gives a new life to everyone who accepts Him in his heart. As soon as Jesus comes into our lives we begin to move. Paul said “in Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28. We begin to move with the life of Christ in us. He said in John 14:6; I am the way, the truth and the life.
Now that we have life; of necessitate we need to know the truth so that we can move at the right direction indicating to others the right time too. As watches we need to be adjusted to the true time. Jesus said “I am the truth.” This is where the study of the word comes in. When we study or read the word we are like we are setting our proverbial watch to the true time of life. Without the word you will move, alright; but who will trust you?
Solomon says to his young son; “my son, give attention to my words.” Everyone who seeks to grow and mature in the Lord must take the word of God seriously. It is not a matter of choice; it is a matter of obligation. If you study – if you pay attention to the word of God; you will grow. Unfortunately, the opposite is true.
Many people come to know Christ by being born again but they stop there. They are just happy they’ve got a new battery and they stop there. They think that since they received a new life; all other things will work automatically. I know it is like we are exaggerating but how many people who are saved out there are behaving like nothing has happened in their lives? It is true that most of them want to change but nothing seems to be working. They tried their will power, only to lapse back in few days or weeks at most.
Friend; it does not matter how you think things should be like. Unless you take a conscious action to grow; you will be right where you are a year from now. Our text says “incline your ear to my sayings.” Who are you listening to today? Who instructs your life today? There are many instructors out there; we know. But are they setting your life on time? Do they know the time of your life? They may know your date of birth, of course. But do they also know your date of death? Do they know what the time of your life is right now? Do they know it when your clock is ticking the last hour?
No one knows about any one’s life and time. Only God knows. He makes this known to us through His word. Paul said; “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” 2 Timothy 6-7. I think you are of the same mind with me that this saying is of a man who knew his time – a man whose time was set by the word of God.
As soon as you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior; you’ve got a full time job to do. Your duty is to study the word of God on regular bases. To know the will of God and your purpose in life you are going to have to mine at the right mine. The word of God is a gold mine. Your life’s answers are found there. Other avenues may attempt to give you answers; it is true they do. Sometimes they hit the nail, sometimes they miss. Friend, the important thing is not whether they are sometimes right or close; the truth you must know is that their suggestions change with the environment. The answer that used to be the best when all was well becomes obsolete in time of recession.
Much as we are not blind of the fact that science and technology are making a meaningful contribution to life today (and we thank God for that); I think we should not let the word of God “depart from our eyes” just because there is a scientific or technological solution readily available. Let us; as the scripture instructs, “keep them in the midst of (our) heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” Man can solve a problem; but he will have to solve it again because it will surface again. When God solves the problem He says you are free indeed. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. You shall be free in the spirit, free in the soul and free in the body. How does He do this? He does this through the word.
To grow spiritually, the word of God is the only ingredient. Neglecting this important aspect is sacrificing your spiritual potential; for no one is capable of being what God has created him for without the knowledge of the word of God. Many people are born babies and will die babies though by age they might be sixty or more. They will die without being what God has intended for them to be simply because they fail to take the word of God seriously. I am not talking about being educated or being instructed in different fields. I am not talking about that. I am not talking about being rich in money or material things. I am taking about being what God created you to be. I am not talking about talent and refined skills; I am talking about being what you were meant to be.
How I wish you could grasp and understand this point, my friend? No one knows you; even the very parents who gave you this passage into life as we know it. No one knows who you are and no one knows the time of your life. We can only speculate by analysis but the truth is we know nothing about who you are.
It is only God who knows who we are and He is the only one who can reveal to us through His word what our purpose in this life is. The Spirit said through Paul “everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him” Colossians 1:16b The Message.
I encourage you to take this trip with us as we take this deliberate action to grow spiritually.
WHERE THE WORD OF GOD IS STUDIED, GROWTH IS INEVITABLE
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