The Word—Sweeter than Honey

“How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore, I hate every false way…Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” –Psalm 119:103-104; 97 (NKJV).

Do you love God’s Word? Can you say with the writer of Psalm 119 that it is sweeter to your mouth than honey? Can you attest that God’s law is your meditation all the day? Do you cling to God’s testimonies? Do you delight in His commandments? Do you yearn for the Lord’s precepts? If you honestly say yes to all these questions, then you do have a desire to know God’s Word, to cling to it, to follow it, to keep it in your heart and mind. Such was the desire of the writer of the longest Psalm, 119, which is a 176 verse acclamation of the excellence of God’s Word and how the Psalmist wanted to hide it in his heart, live by it, and gain delight and life from it.

Isaiah 40:3 reads: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’ ” Apply this verse to the present dearth of the knowledge of and love for the Word of God—the spiritual wilderness or desert in which we, by our own lack of study and application of the Bible—allow ourselves to live. But there is a voice in this wilderness. God has given us His Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be complete, perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV).

Paul’s strong word about the inspiration of Scripture, and its value for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness are emphasized. We don’t have to wander in the wilderness of apathy and spiritual dearth. We can be well-equipped with the knowledge and guidance God’s Word provides us. Systematically reading and studying the Word of God can supply a wonderful highway through the desert of our spiritual dearth. Just like the shepherds of old came upon a bee tree in Israel, and had the sweet taste of honey to assuage their hunger, so the Word of God can satisfy our spiritual hunger. It can go beyond providing for our spiritual hunger. It can fill us to overflowing with the precepts, joy and guidance of the Lord.

I need to establish some necessary guidelines when I open God’s Word, the Bible. When I approach it, I am entering holy ground. I am not seeking an explanation for God. He is, and I am seeking His voice. We need to pray, “Maranatha, Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Maranatha is a word we associate with the second coming of Jesus Christ. But it can also mean, “Lord, come to me now; speak to me now.” Each time we take the Word to study it, read it for inspiration, seek out its truths for our edification, we are meeting the Lord. He is speaking to us! Wonder of wonders, His “Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). We would see a difference in our churches, in our society, in families, in personal lives of Christians if only we would take seriously our love for the Word and be diligent in following its truths. As good as they are, a few devotional verses a day may help, but they are not enough. A deep-down, earnest, sincere study of the Word is what is needed. Can you answer yes to the questions posed at the beginning of this devotional? Would you like to? I hope you will say, “Maranatha, Lord, come! Talk to me through Your Word!” Then we will say with the Psalmist, How I love thy Law (Word)! It is my meditation day and night!” --Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.16.2014

The Influence of a Godly Example

“When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also, therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 2:5-7.  “But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:14-15 (both references NKJV).

            Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois are mentioned by name only once in the Bible, in 2 Timothy 3:14.  Luke, in writing the Acts of the Apostles, records the story of Timothy’s call and going with Paul and Silas when they were in Lystra.  We read:  “And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.  He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.  Paul wanted to have him go with him.  And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek (Acts 16:1-3)  Timothy and his mother and grandmother were likely converted to Christianity (from Judaism) on Paul’s first missionary journey while he was in Lystra.  By the time Paul returned on his second missionary journey, Timothy was already an outstanding Christian there.  Lois and Eunice were Jews by birth, but Timothy’s father (unnamed) was Greek.  That is why Paul thought it best to circumcise Timothy so that no criticism would be forthcoming from Jewish Christians they might meet.  Eunice and Lois’s influence made such an impact that Paul felt it worthy of noting in his epistle to Timothy.

            Family influence is a strong factor in helping children to become Christians and to assist them to develop in Christ-like graces.  Paul commended Timothy that his faith had first lived in his mother Eunice and in his grandmother Lois.  They had prepared Timothy with a solid education in the Jewish Scriptures, taught him to be responsible, and trained him in strong character traits.  Paul called Timothy his “son in the gospel.”  He trusted Timothy to be sent on important missions for Christian teaching and training.  He assigned Timothy hard places to assist struggling congregations and to instruct in problems concerning doctrine and Christian discipline.

            Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:11-12:  “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (NKJV).  What Paul was urging Timothy (and us) to flee was the love of money, which “is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10) and causes people to “wander away from the faith and pierce themselves through with many pangs” (v. 10).  Paul urged Timothy to embrace the fruits of the Spirit including godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness.  These characteristics had been taught to Timothy from his youth up by his mother and grandmother.  “”I’d rather see a sermon anytime than hear one,” is a truth about the value of Christian example.  In the home, fortunate the children who see sermons (and godly qualities) practiced and lived out by Christian elders who provide genuine examples of Christ-likeness.

            Timothy had that example in Eunice and Lois, and in Paul after he met him and was mentored by the apostle.  Let us pray that we can be godly examples for others.  –Ethelene Dyer Jones 03.23.2014.