“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word… I delight in Your decrees. I will not neglect Your Word.” Psalm Chapter 119: verses 9-16
So often I walk past my bible in the bookshelf and don’t pick it up. I have started leaving copies around the house and even placed one in front of the TV, in-an-attempt to draw me back from the distractions of home life. I use my smartphone a lot and have various bible apps installed, sitting on the home screen for ease of spotting and opening. And yet I often still neglect the Word. I’m not sure when this started with me. I guess I have lived with a lot of distractions for many years. Perhaps I squandered some of the years that I should have been learning self-discipline and aiming to be heading towards some more maturity and godly direction. For me it was in the form of violent computer games, questionable music and internet choices and withdrawal.
Maybe it’s been a similar story for you. Maybe you still live with constant distractions that mean the bibles stay where they are, unopened and unread. It’s understandable, we have lived in a post Christian part of the world over the last number of years. But with the news about quiet revival happening around the UK and other parts of the world, I really feel challenged to get on board and really get to know my bible, and my Lord, in a much fuller way.
The verses at the top of this post have long been a favourite of mine. The whole section from Psalms, Chapter 119, verses 9-16 (named Beth) speak of a deep yearning for more of Jesus. The kind of yearning that I often lack, but get glimpses of every so often. I want more of that. I want to stop more at the bookcase; flick through the bibles there; pick up my bible from in front of the TV before I reach for the remote; and to head for the bible folder on my phone before scrolling through to my favourite games. Like I said, every so often it feels natural to do this, but I guess progress does not normally feel natural.
I’ve been reminded again about the sword of the Spirit, which is the learned and spoken word of God. The “scriptures made aggressive” as the late, great Derek Prince often commented. We need to know them, meditate on them, speak them, soak ourselves in them. We need to be able to quote relevant parts of the bible in the need of any given moment, in-order-to defend ourselves and others from attack and to strike back against darkness. We can’t do this as easily if our bibles are sitting in our bookshelves, or even in front of the TV, gathering dust and leaving us unarmed and vulnerable. I am really challenged when I ponder things like that and when preachers, bible commentators and Christian friends and family prompt me to the Word too.
Our bibles need to come alive in our lives, for me as much as anyone else.
‘Lord, Let me not neglect Your Word.’
encouragement from someone who has been through the fire 