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Rejoicing in the Word, April 17
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O
Lord God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16
.
There is constant need of patience, gentleness, self-denial, and self-
sacrifice in the exercise of Bible religion. But if the Word of God is made
an abiding principle in our lives, everything with which we have to do, each
word, each trivial act, will reveal that we are subject to Jesus Christ, that
even our thoughts have been brought into captivity to Him. If the Word of
God is received into the heart, it will empty the soul of self-sufficiency and
self-dependence. Our lives will be a power for good, because the Holy Spirit
will fill our minds with the things of God. The religion of Christ will be
practiced by us; for our wills are in perfect conformity to the will of God.
Some who profess to have true religion sadly neglect the Guidebook
given by God to point the way to heaven. They may read the Bible, but
merely reading God’s Word, as one would read words traced by a human pen,
will give only a superficial knowledge. Talking of the truth will not sanctify
the receivers. They may profess to be working for God, when, were Christ
among them, His voice would be heard, saying, “Ye do err, not knowing the
Scriptures, nor the power of God” (
Matthew 22:29
). Such cannot know what
true religion means.
“The words that I speak unto you,” said Christ, “they are spirit, and they
are life” (
John 6:63
). Jeremiah testifies to the Word of God, saying, “Thy
words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and
rejoicing of mine heart.” There is divine healing in God’s Word, which the
so-called wise and prudent cannot experience, but which is revealed to babes.
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple” (
Psalm 119:130
). If this Word is enshrined in the heart, it becomes
the treasure-house of the mind, from which we bring forth things new and old.
We no longer find pleasure in thinking of the common things of earth, but say,
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (
verse 105
).—
The
Review and Herald, May 4, 1897
.
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