Today’s Scripture Reading

Warning Against Falling Away

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

6 ¹Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ² instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And God permitting, we will do so.

HEBREWS 5:11- 6:3

Today’s Devotional Reading

How Do I Study God’s Word?

The Bible is unlike any other narrative. It is God’s story chock-full of amazing depth and application for our lives. Jesus reminds us that the condition of our heart is important when we hear or read God’s Word. If we are open and receptive to God’s words, they will take root in our lives and transform us.

But how does our heart open up to God in order to be receptive to his words? Jesus told his disciples that after he returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit would come to reside in them and to remind them of everything he had said. This same Spirit lives in all believers today.

The desired outcome of studying God’s truth is transformation. It guides us along a path of maturity in Christ. We get into the Bible and the Bible turns around and gets into us and changes us for the good. (See Hebrews 5:11-6:3).

KEY VERSE

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

KEY IDEA

I study the Bible to know God and his truth and to find direction for my daily life.

KEY APPLICATION

What difference does this make in the way I live?

We regularly read and study God’s Word. We come to see that studying God’s Word in community with other believers is of great value. We align our lives to the Bible because we believe it is from God.

Consider this: What if for one week you exchanged your mobile phone for your Bible? Anywhere you normally take your phone, you take your Bible instead. Anytime you normally look at your phone, you look at God’s Word instead. The time you spend calling, texting, and browsing online with your phone is traded for time reading Scripture. If you normally place your phone next to you at a business meeting or by your plate at dinnertime, you now put your Bible there. What difference would this exchange make in your life in just one week? Whose life would be impacted? This line of questions is not intended to trigger guilt, but rather to inspire us to increase our engagement with the one instrument that can truly change not only our lives but the lives of those around us.

Today’s devotional reading is pulled from: NIV Believe