One habit we need to increase is searching God’s Word. This devotional reading beings looking at why we are to read God’s Word.
Nuggets
- We should read God’s Word because it gives us the standard by which we will be judged.
- We should read God’s Word because it comes from God.
- We should read God’s Word because it is a record of Jesus’ ministry Jesus constantly taught out of the Old Testament.
- We should read God’s Word because it is a record of Jesus’ ministry.
When we think about what habits we need to grow, we need to read God’s Word more. In that way, we grow closer to God.
Reading Seeking God with Elaine devotions are great, but we also need to dig deeper into God’s Word. We have to read for ourselves what God actually says.
The first devotion in the Searching the Scriptures begins looking at why we search God’s Word. We will finish the last four why’s before we look at the how’s.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the Outward and Inward Religion study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
All headings are the wording from the S. S. Times’ sermon Searching the Scriptures.
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Because It Contains the Statuses and Judgments of God
“And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess” (Deut. 4: 14 ESV)
We should read God’s Word because it gives us the standard by which we will be judged.
With everything else Moses had to do, he made sure that he taught the Wilderness Wanderers what they were supposed to do. He was very diligent and persistent in doing this.
Moses not only taught them the statutes and rules, but he also wrote them down so they would have them. He didn’t want them to forget what he had taught them.
In a way, it seems funny that Moses would have time to write five books. I mean, he had to solve the squabbles of a million people — daily. Even once he got the help, I bet he still got a lot of cases to be the final authority.
And that doesn’t include all the other administrative duties Moses had.
On the other hand, Moses had 40 years to accomplish that. Late at night in his tent, he probably was looking for ways to keep his sanity.
But wouldn’t Moses want the records for himself? They would be a guide for him in his deliberations. He had to make sure he was well versed in what God wanted.
More importantly, the Wilderness Wanderers needed to know what was expected of them. They needed to know on which standards they would be judged.
It is not luck or coincidence that Moses’ books remained all these centuries. God still wants us to know of these statues and rules and follow them. He wants us to know that one day we will all be judged on the same standards.
The Family Churchman wrote why it is important to have the laws and commandments written down. The Knowledge and Practice sermon says, “Christianity is the highest example of the combination of the doctrinal and the moral, laying a foundation of truth and love, and rearing upon it an edifice of obedience and holiness.”
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Reading God’s Word isn’t just about knowing about God’s laws. It is about doing them.
Following God’s laws isn’t just about doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. It is about our gaining God’s character to become more like Him.
We show our faith in God by becoming more like Him.
It Is the Word of God
“so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities” (Jer. 36: 6 ESV)
We should read God’s Word because it comes from God.
Jeremiah was very explicit. He couldn’t go to the house of the Lord because he had been banned from it, but God gave him a specific message to give the Israelites.
Plan B — have Baruch go in his place. Jeremiah wanted to make sure Baruch knew exactly what to say. “… you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. …” (Jer. 36: 6 ESV).
What is relevant to this discussion is the fact that the words themselves come from God. Men may be writing on the scrolls, but the words are God’s.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Tim. 3: 16 ESV).
I feel a rabbit coming on. Let’s chase it.
Breathed is an interesting word. Yeah, God’s Words come out as a part of Him. But it is more than that.
“But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand” (Job 32: 8 ESV).
God has put His Spirit in us. That Spirit is His breath.
God’s Word is to be in us just as His breath is. He wants to permeate our being.
Back on track. Every word that is in God’s Word was specifically put in it by God Himself.
Christ Taught Out of It
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk. 24: 27 ESV)
We should read God’s Word because Jesus constantly taught out of the Old Testament.
Paul talked about opening the eye of our hearts. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1: 18 CSB).
We’ve talked about that and struggled with it couple of times. Vaughan wrote something that should make it a lot clearer. He wrote,
“It is quite certain that there is an inward faculty in the mind which accurately corresponds to the natural eye. It is the power by which we morally see and morally apprehend truth. And that eye, just like the bodily eye, admits of being either closed or opened. This eye of the soul is a part of man’s original constitution. Familiarly we have known it under the name of faith. Faith is that eye of the soul. This eye is born blind.”
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When we see with the eyes of our hearts, we have faith in God.
We can’t focus only a few verses, chapters, or even books of God’s Word. We have to read the Bible through. That is the only way we will know all of Who God is.
When we start seeking God in His Word, the Holy Spirit starts interpreting Scriptures for us. We grow our faith by growing closer to Him.
It Testifies of Christ
“but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20: 31 ESV)
We should read God’s Word because it is a record of Jesus’ ministry.
Some seem to think that we find Jesus only in the New Testament. True, that is where He actually speaks words and He is mentioned by name.
Jesus is, however, throughout the Old Testament.
- “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7: 14 ESV).
- “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (II Sam. 7: 14 ESV).
- “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job. 19: 25 ESV).
All God’s Word leads us to our Savior. It is all about Jesus.
However, God’s Word is not an exhaustive record. Maclaren said John’s gospel wasn’t meant to be a biography. I think that extends to all four gospels.
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There is harmony among the gospels, but we do get individual incidents in all of them.
- Only John tells us about Nicodemus.
- Only Luke tells us about Jesus’ birth.
- Only Mark tells us to preach to all the world.
- Only Matthew tells us about the sheep and the goats.
John reiterated that. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn. 21: 25 ESV).
If we would have gotten a biography, wouldn’t that be more about what Jesus did? Wouldn’t most people want to hear more about the miracles and healings?
But Jesus was more interested in providing a gospel. To Him, His message was more important than He was.
No, the Plan of Salvation would not have been accomplished without Jesus. Jesus was humble enough to realize that it was more important that the Plan of Salvation be available than Him getting the glory. He wanted God to get the glory.
We were given enough to prove that Jesus was God’s Son. The signs and wonders that Jesus did show He was no ordinary Man. His resurrection proved that He was God.
Watson said something interesting. He wrote the works of Christ are “Miracles involving the duty and necessity of faith; that is, a personal trust in His power and mercy, as in the case of the leper, the centurion’s servant, the child tormented with an evil spirit (Mark 9.), and the Syro-Phoenician woman.”
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Jesus could do the miracles without us. Our faith that He could do what He said is a major component, though.
We were also given enough to prove that salvation can be gained only through ABCDing. Scriptures tell us exactly how to search for God and be granted access to a loving, forgiving God.
Making the Connections
I need to process something Adams said. He wrote, “It is not the quantity of thy faith that shall save thee.”
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Well, we know about the mustard seed, don’t we? “He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you’” (Mt. 17: 20 ESV).
We need genuine faith, not super huge faith. We get this through God’s Word. We read it, listen to it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17)
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3)
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16)
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11)
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2)
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11)
How Do We Apply This?
- Believe in the written word of God.
- Have a true faith in Jesus.
- Submit our will to God.
- Work out our salvation so that our nature will imitate His.
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Father God. We look to Your Word to learn of You. Help us to understand what we read and hear. Help us grow closer to You. Amen.
What do you think?
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