We can't be Christlike without being word-centered. We live, grow, and flourish by the word of God. We wilt and wither without it. Nothing is more important for the life and health, growth and depth, of the believer than a recovery of serious, daily, personal Bible study. Here I am at Bojangles this morning.
I come to God's word as a man aching for eternity, starving for a word from God, hungry to hear his voice, desperate to see Jesus. I don't come for some transient advice or to be entertained but for a vision of transcendent reality, an infinitely valuable glimpse of God's glory. And we do this together, you and I, united in Christ as members of his body. We come to Scripture expecting God's voice, not only on Sundays, but every day of the week. I have no doubt that biblical preaching is as much needed in the twenty-first century as it was in the first. The pulpit is a tremendous responsibility. But we need to be reminded in our day that it is the Bible, not the word of man, that is the God-breathed word of God. That's what I love about 2 Tim. 3:16. It is one of the most important verses in the Bible about both the origin and the purpose of Scripture. Nowhere else in Scripture is the work of the word so concisely set forth or its sufficiency so clearly declared. All Scripture is God-breathed! All Scripture is supremely profitable! The Bible matters in our walk with the Lord because God breathed it. Let this sink in. We hold in our hands the very words of God translated into English. It is a book that reveals the mind of God. A book! And we can know it, read it, study it, love it, and memorize it. No human sermon or written commentary can ever be a substitute for it.
Thank you, Lord!