The Bible was written by men, but God is the author. Peter said, “Holy men spoke (wrote) as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
If the Word is going to benefit us, there are several prerequisites we must apply:
It must first be used in our own personal re-creation process. Peter said, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23). When the word is preached, we are convicted of sin (John 16:8-9), see our need of Christ, accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, His Spirit enters us, unites with our human spirit and brings it to life. Without this taking place, none of the benefits of the Word applies to us.
We must read the Bible.
“Blessed is he that reads” (Revelations 1:3). So many born again believers (Christians) seldom open the pages of God’s word. It may be laying on our coffee table looking nice but we never pick it up, dust it off, open it’s pages and begin reading. The blessings of the bible are only there for those who read it. When is the last time we read our bible?
We must listen to the Word being taught and preached. “Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy” (Revelation 1:3). Hearing the Word has to do with being taught and/or hearing it preached. That is why church is so important. If we are to receive the full blessing from the Word of God we have to sit under it being proclaimed. This is the context in which Paul said our faith is able to grow (Romans 10:13-17).
We must be doers of the Word. “Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand” (Revelation 1:3). In order to have the Word of God be of full benefit in our lives we have to put it into practice. When we put the Word into practice we are promised we will be blessed in all we do (James 1:25 and Joshua 1:8). Otherwise, we are just deceiving ourselves (James 1:22).
We must meditate on the Word. We are to make the Word of God our meditation day and night (Psalms 1:2-3 and Joshua 1:8). The only meditation we are encouraged to do is on God and His Word. There may be times we take one verse or phrase and maul it over and over in our mind. This takes place, at least in part, when we are memorizing scripture.
We must memorize the Word. There is something about hiding the Word of God in your heart. There is so much about this in the bible, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart” (Psalms 119:11); “I have written unto you young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you” (1 John 2:14); “If you abide in me and my words abide in you” (John 15:7). I could go on and on. If the Word is in us it’s more than a casual reading. We know it and can pull it out at anytime. I challenge you to begin putting the Word to memory. It will be the best thing you will ever do.
