Bible, the Law of God!

“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways.” – Psalm 119:1-3 NIV

Most of us believe that all of us are able to walk blamelessly without the word of God before the Lord because He is all about love mercy, and grace. We think that we do not need to read the Bible—front-to-back—in order to become perfect Christian. This is because we know that the Lord looks at the heart, instead of outward appearance. If something goes wrong in the walk with our God, we just have to repent real earnestly, and He forgives them. Furthermore, we also think that we do not need to seek God, in order to live perfect Christian life, especially if we have already memorized all of significant verses of the Bible. We might even believe that there is no way to seek God because we think that the Bible is just a book.

However, the truth is that the Bible is more than a book. It is the written word and the letter of God that has been handed down to us and future generations. The Bible is only book that advocates us to become righteousness of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) This is probably the reason why Apostle Paul states that the Gospel is the power of God that brings salvation in Romans 1:16, even though it does not actually provide salvation (Acts 4:12). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of His life but the word of God is the whole book of the Bible—from beginning to the end—including the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which can really found in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is verry similar to the word of God as they both tell us how to live the Kingdom life righteously through Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27-29). Thus, seeking God actually means to find how to live the Kingdom life correctly and righteously before Him through Jesus. Therefore, Jesus declares,

Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. (Luke 6:46-49)

Because the word of God is the best way to remind ourselves how to become the righteousness of God, we have to read, listen, and meditate on it again and again (Psalm 1:1-3), even though our God is forgiving God (1 John 1:8-2:2). This is because being the righteousness of God is same as to make Jesus Christ more alive within us, “for the word of God is alive and active…” (Hebrews 4:12) Without applications of the word of God into real life, we are basically crucifying Jesus Christ over again, who is living within us (Hebrews 6:1-6). In other words, faith without deeds is dead (James 2:14-26). For example, I have faith in driving a car but if I am not trying to drive it ever, then that faith is obsolete and useless. It is like with faith in Jesus Christ through the word of God. Therefore, Jesus Christ states,

Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:18-23)

Lord, we know that we have not abide in Your Word often,

that we should have been,

 because abiding in Your Word actually means to abide in You, O, Lord.

So help us to manage our tiime to read, listen, and meditate on Your Word daily,

So that we are able to become the righteousness of God

in the way you have designed us to be.

In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen!