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.

Pursuit of Righteousness

Today's Reading Romans 6-8

A do-it-yourselfer went into a hardware store and asked for a saw. The salesman pulled a chain saw from the shelf and commented, "This is our finest saw. Guaranteed to cut ten cords of lumber a day."
"I'll take it!" responded the customer jubilantly.
Next day he came back, haggard and exhausted, to return the chain saw. "Something must be wrong, he moaned. "I could only cut three cords of lumber a day with that thing."
"Let me try it," urged the salesman, pulling on the cord to start the motor. "Vvvvvrrrroooooommmm," went the chain saw. "What's that noise?" exclaimed the customer.
Chapters 7 and 8 may remind you of the plight of that do-it-yourselfer: wanting to do the right thing but failing to apply the power for victorious living that God  has supplied in the person of the Holy Spirit. See if you can find five promises in chapter 8 regarding the Holy Spirit's role in your daily life. Then select one and draw upon it today. That's why they're there.