FOOD FOR THE SOUL

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

II Tim. 3:16,17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.  NLT

      Why should we spend time in God's Word? Why should we spend energy trying to understand it? Why does it matter how well we are acquainted with it? The bottom line is if we don't make God's Word a priority in our lives, we will never know what pleases God and we will never grow up and become mature in our faith. Without a good understanding of God's Word, we will always struggle with sin in our lives and never be properly prepared to serve the Lord.

      Also, if we believe that God has inspired the Scriptures, then it becomes to us of highest importance. If God matters to you, you will want to know what He has to say. He has inspired all of His Word given to us. Therefore, all Scripture is important to us. There is no part of Scripture that God does not want us to know.

      Very few of us can say that we have read through the Scriptures in its entirety. We claim we don't have the time. Yet we find the time to read books, newspapers, and magazines we like. We have time to watch movies, sports, and TV. We have time to engage in all kinds of recreational activities. We have time for those things which matter to us.

      It has always baffled me how so many of us think that a scattered verse here and there is sufficient for our needs. There is a severe lack of knowledge in the Church about truth because we don't read or study our Bibles. We don't value what God has spoken to us like we ought. We claim to believe it, but don't really know what it says because we have never read it. We are easily thrown for a loop when we encounter false teachings because we are not into the Word like we must be. We never grow very much into holiness because we don't hear what God says through His Word.

      To me, it only makes sense that if you want to know the truth you go to the source of the truth.  People are Biblically illiterate, both in and outside of the Church.  An alarming number of people who have been raised in the Church struggle with basic truths from the Bible, where to find books of the Bible, what is sin, whether hell is for real, etc. 

      God gave us His Word for us to open, study, and apply to live—not to sit on our shelves and gather dust.  An unopened Bible does the soul no good.  Get into the Word and it will get into you and help you to live a life that is pleasing and acceptable to God.