DAILY DEVOTIONAL – March 11, 2021

“The Way of the Word”

Prayer:  Jesus, You have given us not just the hope of eternal life beyond the grave, but of purposeful life today.  Grant us the strength of faith to diligently live in Your Word and use the knowledge Your Word gives us to serve You in all that we do and with all that we have.  Amen.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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.

Devotional – “The Way of the Word”

There is more wisdom, more knowledge, more power and more purpose within the pages of the Bible then in all the knowledge in the universe.  The Bible is the Word of God, and that Word not only imparts Godly wisdom and knowledge (that when followed will bring God’s blessings), but more importantly, the Word of God gives life.  If you want to become a doctor or a lawyer or scientist, you’re looking at years and years of rigorous study, tens of thousands of dollars, and when all is said and done, much of that knowledge will fade into the background of tomorrow’s discoveries.

However, if you want to become a child of the Living Creator God, if you want to have your mind opened to the eternal truths that lay even outside of time and space, if you want to truly have your mind transformed so that you can be transformed into who and what you were created to be, then all you have to do is read, receive and abide in the Word of God.  There are no years of study required in order to be called a child of God, only faith in the Christ and Lord Jesus whom the Scriptures given by God reveal to be the Way, the Truth and the Life.  There is no cost in being able to know the Living God.  God offers His love and forgiveness, His knowledge and the power of His Holy Spirit, freely through the pages of Scripture because Christ has already paid the cost required for us to be received by God by dying on the cross for our sins.

It absolutely is true that God has given us the right to become children of God by grace alone through faith in Christ, a faith given to us as a gift and planted in our hearts by the very Word of God.  As Paul says in Romans 1:16, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  At the same time, God has also given us His Word in order that we may be transformed by it through faith.  As Paul says in our text for today from 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

The Word of God and wisdom of God has been given to us freely in order that we would come to the knowledge of our sin, repent and receive God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and then live in that Word and live obediently to that Word; knowing it and using it every single day in order to serve and glorify our gracious God in all that we do.  God’s Word is above and over any other knowledge we have.  Regardless of what education you do or don’t have, or what letters you do or don’t have after your name, God’s Word supersedes it all and it is to that Word and for that Word that we exercise all of the other knowledge God has graciously allowed us to attain in this life.

Why attend church each Sunday?  Why attend Bible Study and small groups?  Why go on mission trips and serve the community?  Why listen to these devotionals and have a daily devotional life?  We certainly don’t do all these things just to be able to say we are “religious” or “Christian” or for the sake of religion.  Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is pointless and is no better than knowing nothing at all.  So too, knowing the Christian routine and doing the Christian religion for the sake of being religious or for the sake of routine is not the same as knowing Jesus Christ and following Him as a disciple.

God has called us to faith in His Son Jesus through His Word and calls us to be active and involved in the ministry of His church in order that we would first be sustained and strengthened in our faith through the Word that is preached, taught and received through the Sacraments in Church, and second that we would be equipped and enabled in heart, mind and soul to serve the Lord with our whole lives.

St. Peter talks about this beautifully in 2 Peter 1.  Peter says in verses 3-8 that God has “granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him [Jesus Christ]” so that we would live this life knowing God and knowing His Divine power and grace through faith in Christ.  Then Peter says something very important, he says, “For this very reason,” in other words, because God has saved you through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

My prayer for myself and for you today is that, as Scripture says in James 1:22, we would “not merely listen to the word,” but “do what it says”.

Thanks for sharing with me in this time of devotion, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.