Be Rich in the Word: Seven Key Disciplines

Even as the Lord created the heavens and the earth by his words, and even as he called Abraham and Israel and the church into existence by his words, so his people live, breath, and have their being by his words. So passionate was God to help his ancient people understand this truth and take it to heart, that he allowed them to endure long periods of time with little or no physical food so that they would see with their eyes and receive in their hearts the primary importance of their spiritual food, that is, the words of God. 

As Moses wrote, “And he [the Lord] humbled you [Israel] and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3, emphasis mine). Sadly, rather than learning this lesson and delighting in their God, Israel grumbled against him and received severe discipline from him. 

Happily, many centuries later Jesus came to the earth and before his public ministry began, he was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he fasted for forty days and where he was tempted by the devil. During one of his temptations, he quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 as a way of saying that he understood the primary importance of the spiritual food of God, and that he was content with his Father’s words no matter the cost or consequence. In this way, he defeated the devil’s designs and modeled for all humankind how we are designed to live. 

Since, from God’s perspective, his people literally live by his words, then it is surely his desire that we make much of his words, not only in our thinking and speaking, but in our manner of life. Indeed, if we live by the words of our Father, let us join Jesus by delighting in the words of our Father! Or to put in the words of Paul, let’s allow the Word to dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16-17)! 

To this end, I will be posting a series of blogs in the next several weeks that will summarize seven key disciplines: hearing the Word, reading the Word, studying the Word, meditating on the Word, memorizing the Word, applying the Word, and teaching the Word. My hope is to explain each discipline but more so to encourage us to engage in all of them. Again, since the people of God live by the Word of God, let us delight in the Word of God together! Let us be rich in the Word!