Thursday, February 27, 2020

Rare Or Just Not Used?

"Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.  And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation."
1 Samuel 3:1 (NKJV)

There are some things that are rare and precious and some things that are very common.  Gold is something that can be difficult to find, it is rare and that makes it more valuable, it is even called a precious metal.  But dirt and grass are found in so many places that they are considered common and not rare or valuable.  While people do not handle dirt and grass very often, they are still not considered rare or valuable things, dirt and grass are easily available and therefore common.

In 1 Samuel we see that when God began to speak to Samuel, Samuel thought it was Eli the priest who was speaking to him.  Samuel did not yet know God or God's voice and Eli himself did not realize it was God speaking to Samuel.  There was no widespread revelation of God's Word at this time, it was rare and so it was precious.  Although God's people already had the first five books of the Old Testament, they had gotten away from God and His Word, so when a prophet spoke for God it was a rare thing and people considered that precious.

Today we are very blessed to have God's written Word, the Bible, easily available to us.  But just because something is easily available does not mean it is widely used.  And because God's Word is so readily available, people do not often consider God's Word as valuable and precious as they would something made of gold.  Don't let a revelation of God's Word be rare to you, put the proper value on God's Word, treat it as precious as it really is and make it a common practice to spend time with God and His Word every day.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Watch Out For The Weeds

"Now the ones that fell among the thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity."
Luke 8:14 (NKJV)

If you have ever had a garden, or worked in a garden, you know that one thing you have to watch out for are the weeds.  Weeds will hurt the plants you actually want to grow because weeds will take the water and other valuable nutrients away from what you have planted.  If you are not careful to watch over your garden and get rid of the weeds, then your plants will be choked and not grow the way that they should and you will not have the results in your garden that you could have had.

God's Word is like a seed and it can grow in our life.  In the parable of the sower, Jesus talked about the seed of the Word of God being sown and what happened to that seed in different situations.  The sad part in the parable is that Jesus said that only a portion of what was sown, 25% of the seed, actually bore fruit and produced as it should.  Was the problem with the seed or even the one who sowed the seed?  No, the productivity problem was with what happened after the seed was sown.

When God's Word is sown into our life, through our own time of reading and studying God's Word, or in some other way, we have to be careful that we don't allow other things to choke off that Word; that prevents fruit from being produced.  Just like weeds compete with plants for water and nutrients, there are things in our life that will compete for our attention and with our responsibility to act on what God's Word tells us.  We have to be sure that we do not allow anything to choke off the Word of God in our life.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

The Tuning Fork

"Sanctify then by Your truth: Your word is truth."
John 17:17 (NKJV)

Have you ever heard of a tuning fork?  It is definitely not something you eat with, but it is a tool used to keep things in tune.  When a tuning fork is stuck, it resonates at a certain pitch, a specific tone is produced that can then be used to tune musical instruments.  Over time, pianos, guitars, and other musical instruments will get out of tune and a tuning fork can be used to check and see if these things are in tune.  By using a tuning fork, you can be sure to keep things in tune.

God's Word is like a tuning fork, it helps to keep us "in tune" with God and His plans and purposes.  It is easy to get away from a biblical perspective in our life when we are constantly bombarded with ungodly input.  You don't have to go looking for some bad things or even be involved with things that you know are wrong, the world is filled with things that are contrary to God and His Word.  This is why it is so important for each and every believer to have a regular time of reading and studying God's Word.

Every day as we live and work, we are surrounded with things that will get us out of tune, so to speak, with God; we must do something to keep ourselves in line and in tune with God.  In John 17:17, Jesus prayed for His disciples to be sanctified, to be set apart, by the Word.  Through daily time in the Word of God and by spending time with God in prayer we can be sure that we are keeping ourselves in line with God's plans and purposes, God's Word is like a tuning fork that helps keep us in tune with God.

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Take Your Medicine

"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 (NKJV)

Knowing what medicine to take, when, and how, can be very helpful.  It would be sad to have some medicine available to you that could help you physically, but you never take it and so you never receive the benefits of it.  You could visit a doctor and they could give you a prescription, or you might even know about some kind of medicine available to you without a doctor's prescription, but if you never make use of what is available to you then you will never experience the benefits of it.

While I am certainly not against doctors or medicine, what many people don't realize is that God has given us medicine to help us with physical problems and as a preventative.  In Proverbs 4:22 it tells us that God's Word is "health" to our flesh.  That word "health" can actually be translated as "medicine", God's Word is medicine for us.  If we will spend time reading and studying God's Word, listening to God's Word, and thinking and talking about God's Word, it will help us physically.

Again, I have nothing against good doctors or medicine, but when God has already given us something that will give us life and health, something that is already available to everyone, why not follow God's prescription and take His medicine?  You don't have to throw away what your doctor may have given you, but make sure you are diligent about taking God's medicine.  As we fill ourselves with God's Word it will help us physically, God's Word is medicine for us.