God's Word Gives Life

She had never had any exposure to Christianity in her home or among any of her friends. One day she and her roommate were getting high in their apartment. Two ladies came to share the good news of Jesus Christ. She and her friend thought this might be some fun especially considering the state of mind they were in. They invited the evangelists in and began to berate them. They laughed at everything they said. They cursed them and made fun of the way they looked and lived their lives. Surprisingly the two Christians did not give up. They continued to work through their presentation of the Gospel. They did not get angry or argumentative. They just shared the bad news of sin and good news of forgiveness in Christ. Later that night the one girl that would later meet with me laid on her bed thinking about that incident. She was ashamed of they way she and her friend had acted. She was impressed that the Christians could be so caring and so sincere. They had something that she wanted. It would be many years before she would actually become a Christian, but that little event was one of the keys to her conversion. She never forgot the Bible message through which God the Holy Spirit was calling her to Christ.

The Danger of Ignoring God’s Word

I am sad to say that I meet and work with so many people who don’t recognize or seem to forget that faith comes by hearing the word of God in Christ. People want God’s help but they don’t want God’s means. They don’t want God’s way of helping them. When you are not interested in God’s word, you are not interested in God. The Bible says, “He who is of God, hears God’s words.” (John 8.47) The Bible also tells us that it is the specific work of the devil to snatch away the word of God from our lives. (Mark 4.14) Even worse many people are lost from the kingdom of God because they allow the cares of this world to choke out the word of God in their lives. (Mark 4.19) The fact that people want Jesus apart from His word is well documented. Every great reformation caused by the hearing of God’s word has been followed by the blight of Biblical indifference: The Great Awakening in America was followed by the liberalism of mainline Christianity. The Reformation was followed by the Enlightenment. The rapid spread of the Gospel in the first three hundred years of persecuted Christianity was followed by the medieval institutional church. This problem was already foreseen by our Lord. A woman once cried out to Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But Jesus said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11.27-28)

I know that I have the temptation to go through life without spiritual recharge I get from God’s word. If it’s a temptation for me, I know that it must be a temptation for you. We get so busy. Our free moments are quickly consumed by entertainment. We grow spiritual numb and cold. I need to repent. You need to also.