fed

Back in high school, I was at a conference where Ray Comfort was speaking. I don't remember what the topic of his talk was (although I can guess that it had a lot to do with evangelism), but during the course of it he said something that has stuck in my mind ever since.

He said that whenever he counsels people who are dealing with some kind of difficulty in their lives that they think is insurmountable -- that "nothing can be done to fix this" -- he asks them if they are reading the Bible every day. If the answer is "no," then Comfort's problem solving prescription is simple: Start reading it. Every day. Things will not stay the same.

I think that what stuck with me most about this was the faith that allowed Comfort to confidently say this to people, believing that their lives would be changed through the reading of the Word.

It shouldn't have surprised me.

Even further back than high school, I was in the choir at church unwittingly learning lesson after lesson about worship, corporate worship, working towards excellence, the day-to-day Christian walk, and how the body of Christ works together in between Sundays.

One tradition at choir was to close out with prayer requests. And pretty much every time that somebody had a prayer request about sharing the Gospel with someone, or if we were praying for Sunday services, in his prayer Dave would mention God's assurance from Isaiah 55:11: your Word will not return to you void.

Ten years of hearing a promise every Tuesday night has a way of fixing it in your mind. Sadly, the human mind also has a way of taking fixed things and translating them into taken-for-granted things.

We need God's Word like we need food.

And we can trust that as we "eat" His word, He will work through it -- both in our own lives and in the lives of the people we meet.

Let's not neglect to stay fed by the Word, and also to share that good sustenance with each other.

It Shall Not Return Void

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Living and Active

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.