January 14
“Oh how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day ” Psalm 119:97
We have talked a fair amount of the importance of prayer in overcoming temptation, but let me now make some statements about another crucial discipline of the Christian life that we must master to maintain the victory, and that is daily meditation and study of the Word of God, the Bible. This is essential because this does at a minimum two crucial things for us: (1) it allows us to know God’s way of viewing mankind and our behaviors, that is, it sets the goal, the standard that we who are in Christ have to follow without debate. (2) It renews our minds so that our interests and tastes and desires change for the better, to be like Him. The Word of God is both informational and transformational. We will discuss point (1) today and point (2) tomorrow.
It is critical that we know what God thinks about things, because the world screams day and night that things which God says are wrong are good and things which God says are good are wrong. Christians who watch television and movies regularly see immorality portrayed, time and again, and think little of it. We become numb to it. If we weren’t numb to it or tolerant of it, we would not watch the program. We are no longer shocked by immorality, murder, violence, lying, deceitfulness, death, destruction, and more. What is worse, the more we are exposed to it the more we question whether or not it truly is all that bad and may begin to even think that God doesn’t think it all that bad. We begin to shape God into our image and that of the world. Not only the media, but the government embraces, promotes, funds, and even prosecutes the opponents of things that God has said decisively are evil. So there are many powerful forces at work to change our thinking as to what is good and evil.
Being in the word of God daily, being a student of the word and taking it seriously, even when we think we already know what it says, is essential to gaining and maintaining the victory over sin. But at the same time, it is one of the hardest spiritual disciplines I know of, and for me personally, it is the hardest. I would rather spend hours in prayer, or at least attempts at prayer, than fifteen minutes with my concordance studying what the scripture says. I sometimes can’t wait to tell God my burdens and concerns, but put off listening to His. I so easily become lazy, complacent, and even adverse to spending time studying the scriptures. Sometimes it is one of the last things I want to do. And that is a big problem.
In addition to being essential for overcoming temptation, I personally cannot point to any activity that is more rewarding. I mean rewarding in every sense of the word. My projects, my relationships, my perspective, everything I do seems to go better, even great, when I make spending time studying the Word a priority. Maybe I wouldn’t have to spend so much time in prayer trying to move mountains if I just obeyed the Lord by diligent, daily study of the Word of God!! And I know better, and yet it is still hard to make it a habit.
Take heed the words of Jesus, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in You, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7 What a promise! How could we not pursue Him and do the things He commands? How could we not joyfully make spending time in His word a daily priority, perhaps the highest priority of every day? I think the answer in my case is that I am too comfortable with my sinful flesh and too deceived by the world, too enamored with it and finding too much pleasure in it. This is sin, and there is no question in my mind that it grieves the Lord daily. May we develop the desire and discipline to study and dig into His word every day, that we might abide in Him and please Him in all things!