Abiding In The Word Series

A FEW YEARS BACK, when I was still serving as pastor at another church, we had two visitors show up at our church, a father and his son. These guys are from British Columbia in Canada, and they were on a road trip through the southern states. They are both men of God, and there was no question in their minds but that, come Sunday morning, wherever they happened to be on their journey, they would be in church. As it turns out, Sunday morning found them at our church.

Following worship, I had an opportunity to visit briefly but nevertheless at some depth with the dad. I learned that he has a passion for seeing young adults come to the Lord and grow in their faith. He told me that, every Saturday night, he has a Bible study in his home, and a growing group of twenty-somethings show up to be mentored by this man, who, by the way, is probably in his 60s or 70s. Neither he nor his son is an ordained minister. They are laymen who have a sense of urgency about discipling others. And what they have done is, they have pressed upon those they are discipling the importance of growth in Christ. And they have identified four areas in which they aim to help young people grow. These four areas are abiding in God’s Word, prayer, killing sin, and giving your life away.

As I listened to the dad describe what he urges upon these young men and women, I was taken with the clarity and simplicity of it. “Of course,” I thought to myself, “how obvious this all is. This is what we all ought to be working on all the time. These are the basics.” I might add one more, which would have to do with Christian community or fellowship, but that is probably a by-product of pursuing the other priorities. If we’re studying the Bible together and praying together and helping one another defeat sin and if we’re giving our lives away in the service of God and others, we’re going to experience community—genuine, life-transforming community.

What it amounts to is that this man has a plan for growing in Christ. And it struck me that we don’t grow in Christ without a plan. We don’t accidentally slip into Christian maturity. And if we’re not growing, it’s because we don’t have an agenda for growth. So, what I want to do is: If God should grant me the opportunity and if you are agreeable, the times I am with you I want to look at these four areas.. And the first one, the first part of the plan, is abiding in the Word.

Now, notice: I didn’t say, “Reading the Bible” or even “studying the Bible.” Of course, you can’t abide in God’s Word without reading it and studying it, but we need to go deeper. We need to abide in it. We need to immerse ourselves in Scripture so that we are drenched in it, so that its outlook and its principles seep down into us at the cellular level, so that it becomes a part of our DNA.

That’s what God is telling Joshua here in chapter 1: “This Book of the Law”—that is, the Word of God—“shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night” (v. 8). What God is talking about here is total immersion in the Bible, so that the very structures of my thinking, the way I view the world, my whole being is shaped by Scripture. Scripture becomes the lens through which I see the world. It becomes the filter through which every thought passes. This is essential. The Word of God is essential to growth in Christ.

And so, we need to abide in God’s Word. We need to read it up, soak it in, and live it out. But why? Is it really that important? The Book of Joshua says it is, and it gives us three reasons. The first is: The Word of God gives us purpose for living. The second is: The Word of God gives us assurance for living. And the third is: The Word of God gives us direction for living.

I. THE WORD OF GOD GIVES US PURPOSE FOR LIVING | Joshua 1:1-4

The first reason, then for abiding in the Word is this: The Word of God gives us purpose for living. And that’s important to keep in mind, because it’s easy to lose our sense of purpose.

Some Things in Life Change (vv. 1-2)

And why is that? It’s because some things in life change. I heard an ad on the radio one day that started with the words, “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.” We’ve all heard that, but then the announcer went on to say, “There’s one other thing we may be certain about, and that is change.” And it’s true, isn’t it? Things change.