The Book—In Our Daily Life, Part Three

What part should the Word of God play in our daily lives? Perhaps the question should be turned on its head. What part shouldn’t the Word of God play in our daily lives? God gave us one job, and it was not to reform the world politically. Christians used to believe in mass that their job was to change the world little by little, until we had almost perfected the world, and at that time, Christ himself would return. How far is that picture from the reality of Scripture!

The Bible clearly pictures a time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) where Israel finds herself in dire trouble, persecuted nearly to extinction. The Bible clearly tells of this day, emphasizing the great distress and anger poured out on his people (Luke 21:24).  Israel shall be encompassed by its enemies on all sides, with all the people of the earth gathered against it (Zech. 12:2, 3). Revelation, a book avoided by many Christians, tells of destruction and judgment on this earth, with a third of the sun smitten and all darkened. (8:12). This terrible effect to the sun (and the moon) is told of and retold in many places in the Old Testament.

I could go on and on, but the point is that you would not know of these things unless you immersed yourself in the Word of God. We are not here to make the world better in preparing for Christ. We are here to shine out in the gathering darkness, witnessing to a lost world, and hoping that some will have listening ears. We are to be like Jesus, who gave himself to a wicked world in the hopes that some might hear and seek the righteousness offered in Christ.

Our job is not political. I know we live in America, where we choose our leaders every few years. I also know that these leaders seem to have nothing to do with the plan of God for a lost world. Will either candidate better prepare the world to hear of the mercy of Christ? We vote our conscience, but our clear duty is to become little Christs, offering the same thing that Jesus offered. He gave himself that we might live. There is no other message, not one, that is more important. Soon we will come to a point where mercy is no longer offered; just judgment.

Our job is to come out from the world, not to be immersed in being part of it. That involves taking the Word of God into our lives in unmeasured quantities. There is never too much for us to study. I knew John G. Mitchell, who was called the “Walking Bible” because he knew so much scripture that he was able to quote it seemingly endlessly. That is the life we are called to emulate—to become little lights filled with Christ’s wisdom, and sharing mercifully with a darkened world.

Throw yourself into study of the Word of God, and be prepared to become more like Jesus as God begins to change you. It is a lifelong process. Indeed, sometimes at 72 years of age, I find myself wishing for another life, that I might do better at putting the Word of God into my mind. You have a call. Have you read or studied the Word yet today?