Word of Encouragement (10/30/2020)

Today, we are going to talk about another means of grace—reading Scriptures—through which God promises to help us pursue holiness.

The Bible is God’s revelation, God’s inspired Word. “The reading of Scripture, unlike all other books, allows us to listen to God’s voice as if He stands before us in the flesh and speaks the very words written on its pages” (p. 149). We need to keep in mind that God’s written Word is no less the Word of God as His spoken Word. Consider the fact that, when we want to say something official, we do it in writing to make sure we say it properly and accurately and we can refer back to it again and again. That is why God chose to give us Scriptures.

Why did God give us Scriptures? “They are by definition ‘profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17). To read the Word of God aright is to look upon a divine compass that always points north toward holiness and to partake of a divine cordial that causes both the purging of our sin and our healing unto holiness” (p. 149).

But we have an even more fundamental need for God’s Word. Because we are made in the image of God, “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3). “Just as we cannot physically grow without physical nourishment, so we cannot spiritually grow without the nourishment of God’s Word” (p. 149).

But do you find the Bible hard to understand? “Not all things in Scripture are equally plain to all [which means that a good portion of the Bible IS plain in its meaning even though some parts are difficult]. That is the Lord’s way of keeping us humble. No one fully and clearly understands everything, and being reminded that God’s thoughts are far above our thoughts helps us see that His Word is an inexhaustible well of heavenly wisdom. However, since God will that we might be drawn to Christ with a childlike faith, all things necessary to salvation are indeed perspicuous and plain to all in God’s Word” (p. 150).

So, let us not be discouraged. Let us not just look at the parts we don’t understand and get frustrated. Rather than feeling discouraged and giving up, we should feel motivated to widen and deepen our understanding of Scripture by applying ourselves to a more careful reading and studying of it. May I urge you to participate in Sunday school and midweek Bible studies? When you find yourself in a difficult passage, find your blessing in what is plain in it or by reading further. God gives us all the grace we need for each day.