Keep Scripture At the Forefront of Your Mind

I was reading Nehemiah 8 recently which begins with Ezra, the teacher of the Law, reading the book of the Law of Moses. And when the people heard it they were so moved that they began to cry, weep, and mourn because they had not obeyed it.

It reminded me of my high school youth pastor. He did a sermon on Habakkuk 4:12-13. I was always one to open my Bible, diligently read the passage, and keep it nearby to compare to what was being preached. The youth pastor opened his sermon by saying "Open your Bibles to Habakkuk 4:12-13," like he always did, "Oh, you know what, never mind. It’s in your notes there." And so I didn’t open my Bible to look at the passage but trusted his notes.

I remember he had three bullet points in that passage and points two and three seemed somewhat contradictory, but I let it slide at the moment because sometimes paradoxes are true (ie. How can Jesus be fully God and fully man?). And as he was wrapping up his sermon, he did something he’d never done before, he asked us if we had any questions. Used as we were to not being allowed to talk during a sermon, no one said anything. That’s when he revealed that Habakkuk 4:12-13 isn’t in the Bible. And we just followed blindly along even accepting his two contradictory points. 

I took a very practical lesson from this sermon, I need to know how many chapters are in each book of the Bible so I can never be fooled like this again. And so for a time, I memorized how many chapters were in the books of the Bible… but truly, that missed the point. The point is, I needed to open my Bible and examine the Word of God for myself.

I wonder how often we replicate this in our lives today. When was the last time you went to a Bible study and no one opened their Bibles? Can you recall a time when you didn’t open to read the passages others were using to make their points? Is it possible they missed the context and meaning of the passage, but because no one opened God’s Word, the whole conversation went a very different way than it should have?

We are blessed to live in a time where everyone has access to the words of God in their own language, and more strikingly always has the word of god in their pocket. And yet we can still be guilty of ignoring it even amid theological discussions and attempts to grow our our walks with God. How dangerous it is for us to neglect such a powerful tool when it matters most!

We might be very good at having regular devotions and still opt to not open our Bibles with each other in our community.

Now how does this relate back to Nehemiah and the people of God mourning and changing their ways at the hearing of the Word of God? When we are in fellowship and talking about all manner of things, several things can cause us to change. We could be swept up in the emotion of the moment, wrapped up in community guilt and shame, and we could feel some peer pressure to change. But there is one reason that overrides all of those in setting us on a path of righteousness: what does God have to say about this?

That’s what moved the Israelites to change. They heard the promises and condemnations of Yahweh. They heard the hope of obedience and the fear of disobedience and they wept for their choices had led them to where they were, and they set out to do right before God. In our fellowship, in our private times, do we have the same motivation? Are we aware of the pressures of our world, our community, and our friends and family to live a life that breaks our God’s heart? Are we seeking to move forward from where we sit today in a manner that brings our great God joy?

Let us bring Scripture to the conversation and wade through what it means together. Let us listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit urging us to bring love, kindness, and justice to those around us. Let us strive to live for God and not for ourselves.

Till he returns,

James Fields

Biblical Counselor