Do you read God's Word and not get anything out of it? Do you hear preaching and yet not get anything? We must do more than read and listen. We must RECEIVE! James 1:21 says: “RECEIVE with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
When you open God’s Word, get into the mode of RECEIVING, even when you don't like what it says! As you read the Word, respond with, “Yes, Lord, I receive this rebuke.” “Yes, Lord, thank You for this promise.” “Yes, Lord, I will obey Your Word.”
I am currently reading the wonderful biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was an intelligent and gifted theologian. However, he gradually learned to read the Bible not so much from a textual criticism point of view, but instead to receive it into his life. He wrote: “Just as we do not grasp the words of someone we love by taking them to bits, but by simply receiving them . . . so it will be with the words of the Bible. Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us . . . shall we learn to rejoice I the Bible . . . Since I have learned to read the Bible in this way . . . it becomes every day more wonderful to me.”
The New American Standard Bible says: “In humility RECEIVE the word IMPLANTED which is able to save your souls." When a baby is conceived, if it doesn't implant, it will die. If the Word is not IMPLANTED into our lives, it will be ineffective.
Let the Word implant in you! Teach your children how to read and hear God’s Word by receiving it into their lives, too. This is when it has the power to save their souls.
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell