A Passion for the Word of God

In the third century Antony of Egypt commented, "Be astounded that God should have written to us."  The believers in the first, second and third centuries would be amazed at how easly Christians today can buy a Bible, and I am sure just as astonished at the casual attitude most "Christians" hold towards the Word of God. The scrolls and parchments that recorded the Word of God were treasured items beyond any comparison.

But the Bible is an open book for all; that is the intention of God. Here He has invested within the pages of this book a complete description of His will and plan. It is the living Word of God, never changing, always revealing. What makes it alive?  The receptivity of your heart.

Jesus told a parable which described four kinds of hearts. He said that the Word of God was like the seed sown by the farmer. Some of the seed fell along the path and trampled on and the birds came along and ate the seeds. Some fell on the rocks but because it was hard ground, when it came up it withered and died because it had no moisture. Other fell among the thorns that grew with it and chocked it. Then some fell on good ground and it came up and yeilded a crop a hundred times more (Luke 8:4-15)

Four hearts are described in this parable:

•  A calloused heart - hardened against God's Word;
• A shallow heart - one with little depth for God's word to take root;
• A distracted heart - a heart pulled away from God's Word in  many different directions by desires and wories;
• An open heart - one receptive and responsive to the Word of God.

The question now is, what kind of heart do you have?  The heart of a person can be hardened by continually refusing to obey the promptings of God's Spirit or by putting up barriers because of hurts or emotional wounds.  It may lack depth by not maintaining a daily intimacy with God in prayer and being obedient to His word in face of difficult circumstance (Romans 15:4).  One may be distracted by the cares of the world yet by responding to the promises concerning material concerns one can clear the fieldof any distractions to the Word of God (Matthew 6: 24-34; Hebrews 13: 5-6).

The prophet Hosea said to "sow for youselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12).  It doesn't matter the conditon of your heart, the Holy Spirit has been sent to help you plow up the ground of your heart to prepare it to receive the Word of God.  In fact He not only will help you plow, He will plow for you! God's word will expose the thoughts and attitudes of your heart, just as a plow exposes the bad ground (Hebrews 4:12).

An open heart is the result of the action of God's Spirit plowing constantly, exposing God's Word. An open heart to God is part of what means to be a new creation in Christ Jesus.