Into Practice

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ~ Matthew 7:24

How often do we go to church, or sit through a Bible study or small group, and think to ourselves, "Wow! This is a great message. I really need to take this in and study it." During the meeting, you may even take notes furiously, but then later, you never make or take the time to go back to your notes, go back and meditate on what you heard. That's what Jesus wants--He wants us to "mull it over," to "chew on it a bit." If you went to Sunday School or Children's Church, growing up, you may have memorized a scripture or two. That's great, for the Bible says that His Word will never return to God empty-handed--without producing God's intended purpose, (Isaiah 55:11). But, wouldn't it be even better if, instead of just memorizing scripture for the sake of memorizing, we actually thought about it, took it in, studied it?

I remember when I took my Psych class in college. The professor said that after every test, we were not allowed to do a "brain flush," because we'd need all the information we'd learned for the final. I'm pretty certain after the class was over, I "flushed" most of it. That professor was telling us what Jesus is telling us: don't forget what you've learned as soon as you've gained a short-term prize for it, or as soon as you hear it.

We need to drink in the Word of God as if it were life to us--because it is. When you go to church, when you hear a message, when you're in a group study, take notes and then take the time later to dive into what God is really saying about any topic. That's how we get to know Him better, by understanding what He's truly saying to us.

Lord, I thank you, that Your Word is alive and teaches us something new every day. Lord, I pray that as people read your Word that something would stick to them, or stick out to them and they'd desire to dig deeper until they grasped the fullness of Your glory, Lord. I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.