WE MUST READ BEFORE WE CAN HEED

Last week I challenged my readers to listen to God's Word being read 1 hour each day for 8 straight days by way of a website hosted by Anne Graham Lotz.  The object of the exercise is to draw us back to God's Word so that we, as a people and a nation, will be called to repentance and turn back to the God we have forsaken.

It sounded easy to do, but I must confess that even as much as I was for it, I found it difficult.  I have done it every day but one, although some days only 30 minutes instead of 60.  I have been frustrated with myself, wondering why this was so hard?

It was hard to find an hour...or even 30 minutes....to sit and be quiet with no distractions and just listen to the Word being read.  And therein lies the rub.  We are too busy!!  Busyness is one of Satan's greatest ploys to keep us from God.  Not that we are doing BAD things, it's just that we are too busy with too many things!
Our society is on the go constantly.  We fill our days and evenings to the brim with activities, running here and there and we teach our children to do the same.  When one of my granddaughters comes to spend the day, the first thing she wants to know is "Mimi, what are we going to do today?"  She wants an agenda for her day.  And as soon as we do one thing, she asks "What are we going to do now?"

In Bible days, people did not own a copy of the Word of God.  Only the priests had a copy of the Law and they were the only ones allowed to read it.  They would gather the people together and read it while the people stood and listened.  In times of rebellion, the children of Israel would often go years without ever hearing the Word read to them.  But upon their return to God, they would hear the Word and be brought to tears over their sin.

The Word of God is powerful, more powerful than a two-edged sword according to Hebrews 4:12 and "able to judge the thoughts and ideas of the heart."  The Word of God is our plumbline according to Amos 7:7, 8.  In order for us to live a pure life, we must heed God's Word. (Psalm 119:9)

Our problem is not that we don't KNOW that we should be in the Word and the Word in us.  The problem is that we do not make time for the Word.  We are too distracted by too many other things.  As Jesus chastised Martha..."Martha Martha, you are busy about many things".

We need to meditate upon Psalm 119:10, 14-16 until we make this our motto and our goal concerning the Word of God:

I have sought you with my whole heart

Do not let me wander from your commands

I will meditate on your precepts

I will think about YOUR ways

I will delight in your statutes

I WILL NOT FORGET YOUR WORD.