Our theology (the study of God) will sculpt our reality. Rather it is wrong or right. Whatever we believe about God will cause us to stand firm or for us to fall away from God. What we believe about God sculpts our decisions. Our thinking of God may even determine how we handle temptations.
So then, it is of most importance to work on our understanding of our God. Now I’m not talking about some deep and profound stances on the Bible, like cessationism or baby baptismal. What I have in mind is knowing the attributes of God. Is God the ends to which I may be fulfilled and satisfied? If not then I may seek fulfillment in lesser things. I will quickly succumb to any temptation. Is God sovereign? If not, then I believe in a puny god who is unable to cause or prevent anything from happening at all. Is God faithful? If not, I have no hope to see any of the good that He’s promised me in Christ. Is God compassionate? If not, then I may believe that He isn’t moved by my suffering, nor wants to fellowship with me in it. Is God wise? If not, then I will think my designs and plans are better for me.
So you see what we believe about God affects truly every waking moment of our lives. If we build our homes on a God who is an accumulation of our own desires and is of our own likeness. When the storms of life come our homes will fall a great fall. But if we press on to know God as He is revealed chiefly in the Holy Bible, then when those same storms come our way our homes will be left standing.
Every day we have to allow the word of God to do its good work of dividing our souls and spirits. Allow the Scriptures to reveal this God within its pages. Bible study can be times of God teaching us so profoundly. It can be so blessed and so precious and spiritual. But it can also be quiet and mundane. We can rush through the Word or be so self-consumed that we don’t even want to know about the God of the Bible, but about little ole us.
There is no time wasted when we have our Bibles opened and our eyes, minds, souls, and affections on God. This is likely the most important thing most of us will do all day. Not much of what we build, or work toward tends to eternity, but Bible study does.
So dig in with both spoon and fork. Let not the many swarming questions discourage you. Look for God in your time of studying the Word. Whatever you can learn about His undertakings’ and His character will be so profitable to you.
God is sweet, tender, merciful and good. Those are the words I would use for Him now. But yet He’s so much more than those descriptions. I think I boast to say those things because for a while I stopped believing those same things about Him. And if God isn’t good (which He is) I have no ground to stand or lay on.
For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Deut. 32:47
The command or the word of God is our life. What we believe about God shapes our entire reality. No command or word of God is empty or meaningless. Bible study is not the business God gives us to be busy with (Ecclesiastes 3:10), but it’s how we meet with God. If we only had spiritual eyes we would see God himself sits down at our tables’ and lays beside us on our beds when we read Scriptures. The Holy Spirit that dwells within us is imparting spiritual things to us.
God is eager to teach each of us about all of Him. He desires to be known as we are known by Him. He longs a relationship with us, He wants to walk with us through the hard parts of the Bible, and our every day lives. And He is faithful to build our understanding of who He is. And to tear down any wrong understanding of Him. God wants us to know how to rightly divided Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15) so that we may live, think and choose wisely.
The satisfaction we crave is found only in God. And there is no bottom nor end in sight with Him. So drink up and be full.
Photo by Atlas Green on Unsplash
A Mighty Woman of God 