Word For The Day: Meditating In The Word

For this week’s devotionals, I would like to share with you about the idea of treasuring and cherishing God’s Word and why it is important to spend time reading and meditating in the Scriptures as often as we can. If you are like me, taking time to “be still and know that I am God” is very difficult because of our personal sin and our busyness with secondary things, but the Bible has much to say about this discipline of Grace of meditating in the Word.

Colossians 1:9–11

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

What does the text mean?

In the first few verses of Colossians 1, Paul is thanking God for the faith of the church in Colossae and their faithfulness to the Gospel and its proclamation throughout the world. Then, in 1:9–11 he tells them what he prays for when he remembers them in his prayers. Specifically, his prayer for them is that they would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”. Even though this text does not say that they must read the Word, we know that the only source of wisdom and spiritual knowledge for us is found in Scriptures; that is the place where we know our God and his will. Sadly, many people try to find knowledge through other means, including mumbling incoherent words, but as we will learn this week, knowledge of God and his will only comes through the faithful and consistent study of God’s Word. Therefore, the first thing I want us to remember today about God’s Word is that IT GIVES YOU KNOWLEDGE SO THAT YOU MAY BEAR GOOD FRUIT.

Many people think that our Christian walk and the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives are emotional things and have nothing to do with our minds, but Paul does not pray for our emotions, he prays for our minds to be filled with knowledge; it is of absolute importance then that our minds be always engaged in everything we do in our Christian walk. But, why should we be filled with knowledge of God’s Word? “So that you may bear good fruit”. Knowledge is not an end in itself, but the right knowledge with the right attitude will produce good Christian fruit in your life; only then you will walk in a manner that is worthy of Christ and pleasing to him. Furthermore, the text also says that as you bear good fruit, you will increase in the knowledge of God, in other words, it is a circle that we can put this way:
Reading the Bible = knowledge of his will and spiritual wisdom = bearing good fruit = increased knowledge of God.

What does it mean to me?

Having seen in this passage the importance of reading God’s Word, I want to encourage you to commence taking the study of the Bible seriously. You may wonder why you do not know God better, well; you have your answer in Colossians 1. You may also wonder why you act foolishly and lack wisdom in your everyday decisions and life, then you need to spend more time meditating on his Word. You wonder why you are not bearing much and feel like your Christian life is stagnant, then you need to spend time reading Scriptures. It is not a magical formula that will turn you immediately into a “super Christian”, but your constant exposure to his Word will create all the fruit mentioned above in the long run. I encourage you then to pick up your Bible, choose a book and begin studying it. If you need guidance, do not hesitate to contact us.

God bless you all
Pastor Hector