“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path…” (Psalm 119:105).
6) When God’s people do not live in the Word, they remain carnal. Their wisdom is worldly, described in James 3:15 as “earthly, sensual, demonic.” Their lives are governed by the same principles as the unsaved.
Listen to them discuss the things of God and you will hear, “It seems to me,” or “I feel.” You may even hear someone admit, “I don’t know what the Bible teaches, but I know what I believe”—the very height of spiritual arrogance and ignorance.
7) When the people of God are not living in the Word, the church will lack qualified deacons and teachers and counselors. Members remain as babies. Hebrews 5 describes them: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
If a church is unable to find godly and mature men and women to serve as leaders, it often compounds its problems by placing immature and carnal people in key positions. Pity the pastor assigned to work with leaders who do not understand faith, think the preacher is a hired hand, judge everything by appearance and numbers, and become authoritative and divisive.
When you live in the Word daily, God will:
Steady you.
You will not be blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). God’s Word will be like the stabilizers which keep ocean-going ships steady.
Ground you.
You will be established and rooted. “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water….” (Psalm 1:3).
Admonish you.
“Now, you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). “Scripture is profitable for reproof, correction…” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Direct you.
“Scripture is profitable for doctrine … for instruction in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The 50th Psalm lays it out in dramatic fashion. God said the people were hating instruction and “casting my words behind them.” They were supporting thieves and “partaking” with adulterers. Their words were lies and deceitful. And then, the devastating verdict…
“These things thou hast done and I kept silent. And because I kept silent, you thought I was just like you” (Psalm 50:21).
“I will reprove you,” said the Lord. “Now, consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver…”
Serious stuff indeed.
This article about our need to live in the Word originally appeared here, and is used by permission
