How many of you cannot wait to sit at the feet of Jesus and just listen to Him speak, to listen in rapture as He tells of the wonders of God, of His glory, to listen intently to every word that comes from His lips? Now, answer me this question, how often and for how long do you study your Bible?
“Oh, but there’s a difference,” you may have just said, He will be right in front of me. Alright, granted, but what are you expecting Him to say that He has not already expounded on in His Holy Book, what great mysteries are you waiting for Him to unfold for you, what questions do you want to ask, what have you been contemplating that only He can answer?
Try this one on for size, as they say, what if all He did was read the Bible, what if He started in the Book of Genesis and just kept reading, how long would you last? Those of you who are honest with yourself would say “Not that long,” those of you who are not quite that honest would say, “Oh, but its Jesus reading!” What possible difference would that make, would you show up on Monday morning to your church or any other building for a reading of the entirety of the Scriptures, start to finish, from any other man, no matter who it was? This I doubt very much, three, maybe four days, breaks for meals, and then back to it.
Again, if you were to be honest with yourself, and you might as well always be, how much time do you spend each day with the Word of God in front of you, not studying only, but just reading the Scriptures.
There are two main ways to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, (2 Peter 3:18) by reading the Word of God, and by contemplating these words. The man who desires to be pleasing to God must obey the will and Word of God, and there is no way to understand His will unless you read His Word, and after reading it, contemplating it, adding an action to the hearing.
In this age that we live in, I believe that this does not happen nearly as much as I would hope that it does. For the grace that has been offered to us is being taken for granted. It is one of the reasons that the profitable servant is mentioned so often in the New Testament, one that not only hears, but obeys. It is why Christ said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) It is why the works-based system of religion is so much easier than the path of contemplation, get baptized, attend church, follow the traditions, and then go about your life because grace is free. The inevitable conclusion? There are many that are either unprofitable, or not saved at all.
The life of Christ, or better yet, the response by the average person to Christ when He walked upon this earth is an excellent analogy here. He speaks as no man ever has, with great authority, (Matt. 7:29) He heals, He feeds, He stops, they abandon Him. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54) More abandon Him, in the garden that night, all leave Him, in fact, they ran away. (Matt. 26:56) So, what was it again that you were planning on doing at the feet of our Savior? Just sit and listen?
I offer this, what you will not do for Him now, you will not do then, at least not willingly, if you will not spend time in His Word, you are not going to want to spend time listening to Him read it in heaven, if you will not contemplate the Scriptures in this life, you will never understand how to turn that contemplation into action, and you will be unprofitable to the kingdom of God in this life, and if this is who you are now, what possible value do you see for yourself in the next life for His glory?
