Observing God's Word
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
If we are going to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, we have to know and allow God’s Word to enter our hearts. We must replace old ways of living in this world with new ways of living in the kingdom of God and the lies of this world with the truth of God’s Word. It is not enough to think about Scripture; we have to think scripturally. Wisdom is seeing life from God’s perspective, and we can only learn that from His Word.
Ezra devoted himself to studying God’s Word, but he also took the next step—the most important part of learning. Ezra observed the law of the Lord (see Ezra 7:10). People retain only about 10 percent of what they hear and 20 percent of what they see, but they retain 90 percent of what they do. James wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:22-25).
Nowhere is this more emphasized than in the Jewish confession of faith known as the Shema. Shema is the Hebrew word for “hear,” and it means “to hear as though to obey.” It is recorded in Deuteronomy and recited daily by pious Jews: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (6:4-9).
Paul reveals another critical reason why the knowledge of God’s Word is not transforming our lives: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:2-3, NASB). If there is no way for Christians to resolve the jealousy and strife, they will not be able to fully receive God’s word so as to transform their lives.
David discovered this only after Nathan confronted him about his sin, and he repented. David would then write, “Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. . . . Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit” (Psalm 51:6; 32:1-2). Truth incarnated sets you free!
questions to consider:
Why must we go beyond intellectual knowledge if we desire to be transformed?
Why does the Bible refer most often to meditating on the Law or God’s Word?
How can we retain the image we see in the mirror that the Bible reflects back to those who read it?
In what way is God’s Word like milk to you because of unresolved conflicts?
Have you ever heard a good message or read a chapter in the Bible and it had no lasting impact on you? Why do you think that was the case?
