Matthew 7:24 - Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
There's a good number of folks at our church who are right now doing either the Daniel Plan or the Daniel Fast. Keeping it simple, the Daniel Plan eats no soda, caffeine, sugar, bread, red meat, or fried foods. The Daniel Fast, additionally, eats no meat at all. Out of all this, some people are eating a lot of bananas.
I myself, as do many, like bananas. Bananas are a simple enough food to gain energy. The thing is, you have to do something with a banana in order for it to be useful. You have to peel it, dig deeper, if you will. In essence, you need to put a little work into it. That's not unreasonable for God, the creator of bananas, to ask. And when you put a little work into it and eat it, there's a whole lot more benefit from a banana to your life than when you just kind of look at it!
God has a similar deal with his word. I myself, as do many, like God's word. God's word is a simple enough food to gain energy. The thing is, you have to do something with God's word in order for it to be useful. You have to peel it, dig deeper, if you will. In essence, you need to put a little work into it. That's not unreasonable for God, the author of his word, to ask. And when you put a little work into it and eat it, there's a whole lot more benefit from God's word to your life than when you just kind of look at it!
Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 7:24, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock." You can't just listen to God's word if you want the greatest benefit from it. Jesus says that you need to put a little work into it.
You need to live God's word to gain the greatest benefit.
In the last year, I've seen people in their 60's, 70's, and 80's gain more benefit from God's word than they ever dreamed by living it in one or more of these ways: memorizing it, writing it down (which is journaling), applying it (which is simply doing it), and telling others about it. The more of these that people do, the greater the benefit of God's word.
And the consistent message from all these seniors to anyone who will listen is simple, "Don't wait! Read and live God's word, as much as possible, while you're young."
Ultimately, God's plan is simple, namely, believe God's word, and live this word that you believe. It makes your life as strong as a rock.
And as simple as peeling a banana!
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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