Delighting in God's Word

Yesterday, we were touched by the truth that God's Word is sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10).  And we were challenged to examine our own hearts.  Do we really treat God's Word as the most satisfying treasure on earth?

If we honestly examine our heart and find the answer to that question is "no" yet we want it to be, how do we learn to treasure God's Word?  How can we get to the point where we value God's Word and love to spend time in its pages.

Before we look at two specific ways we can learn to treasure God's Word more than our necessary food (Job 23:12), we must recognize and believe one truth:  even though we may not feel in our hearts that God's Word is sweeter than honey, we must know that it is.  God's Word is truth, whether our feelings align with it or not.  

1. Spend More Time Reading God's Word

If we want to see the rewarding God's Word is, we must spend time each day pouring over its pages.

Someone once said, "The longer you read the Bible, the more you will like it; it will grow sweeter and sweeter; and the more you get into the spirit of it, the more you will get into the spirit of Christ."

As we spend time studying and memorizing God’s Word, we will grow to love it more. I love using this analogy:  It has been said that we crave what we consume. If you are always eating junk food, the healthy things that are actually good for your body may seem flavorless. On the other hand, as you wean yourself of the sugarcoated food, the nourishing things like salad taste better and better. It is the same with His Word. The more you consume it by reading, studying, and memorizing, the more you will begin to see its value and long for more and more.

George Whitefield bears witness through his own personal testimony: 

"I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh life, light and power from above.”

Spend as much time as possible in God's Word.  I will warn you, this heart transformation won't take place at once.  But as you spend day after day after day pouring over the words of our precious Lord Jesus, you will find in them a sweetness you never knew possible.

2. Meditate on God's Word

I like the way Thomas Brooks has said it: 

“Remember that it is not hasty reading, but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.”

If we are merely rushing through our reading, we will not realize the full sweetness of the flower.

I encourage you friends, spend time in God's Word--reading, studying, and meditating.  You will find there-in treasures beyond comparison and sweetnesses beyond description.  For in the words of God you will find Christ.

"You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 

~Psalm 16:11