Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Abide in the Word of God
John 8:31-38
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples." (John 8:31) 
In the New Testament, Jesus has pointed out the various criteria for His discipleship. Here He says one. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples". In some other versions it is written as,"If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed." The word continue or abide means to live each day by its principles. So, we cannot be a disciple of Jesus without a regular intake of God's word. In other words, we have to live on the words. The story is told of a man who came to pick up his wife after the church, "Is the sermon over? he asked. A member answered, "No, it has just begun, now the rest is up to us." That is what James the Apostle in his Epistle said "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James: 1:22)
The common factor of every great man and woman of God in history is that they disciplined themselves to spend regular time with the Lord in His word. It is written that George Muller the great faith warrior, had read the Bible over two hundred times in his life time, and more than half of those readings on his knees, praying over the word, while studying it. When we know God that well, we will pray specifically and get specific answers. Most of us who say we believe the Bible from cover to cover have never read it from cover to cover.
One of the major reasons we do not read the Bible regularly is that we are not motivated to do that. That is because we have not experienced the joy that comes from personally discovering great truths from God's word. We have become satisfied with getting what we need from somebody else rather than finding it out ourselves. Luke testified about the Berean Church members "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with eagerness, examining the Scripture daily to see if these things were so." (Acts: 17:11) If you ever get serious about studying the Bible on your own, you will never fully be satisfied with a second-hand knowledge of the Scriptures. Let us decide to abide in the word of and become His disciples. So the Word for you today is to read the Word of God regularly.
 
Prayer:
Loving Father, we praise you for your written words. Help us to abide in your words and to become more like your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray... Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The word of God is comforting and confronting, convincing and convicting at the same time.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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