Putting the WORD to Work

One of the interesting patterns you'll note in Scripture as you continue through the Epistles involves content and application.
You see, God gave us the Bible not merely for our information, but for our transformation. As the New Testament clearly teaches us, knowing and not doing is really not knowing at all. That's why Jesus frequently ended His talks with the words, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
This crucial movement from content to application, underlies all the New Testament letters. For instance, in Romans, the apostle Paul outlines the basic truths of the Christian faith in chapters 1-11, then it applies it in chapters 12-15. Ephesians 1-3 reveals doctrine, then moves to duty in chapters 4-6.
Paul is not the only author who consistently takes the profound truths of the faith into the realm of the everyday life. John, James, and even Jesus in His recorded sermons consistently spend at least half their time applying the content they have taught.
The lesson here is obvious. Knowledge must always lead to something even more important - obedience.
That may may not be easy, but it's what God calls us to do. As Mark Twain once said, "Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand; but the passages that bother me the most are those I do understand."
Here is something to think about:
Are you letting your Bible reading become just an intellectual exercise, a means of gaining more information? Or are you letting its truths sift through your own life, so that you wrestle with the will of God in your own life every day?
The Biblical pattern is clear: In God's eyes, knowledge requires obedience. Take some time to examine your own life in light of that pattern, and talk it over with God.