Blessed are those that read and heed
The evidence that a truth is believed in the heart is only seen when it is lived out in our daily experience.
The Bible tells us that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus our Lord in the heavenly realms (Eph. 1:3). However, believers do not enter into the good of every blessing unless we “[lay] hold of that for which Christ also has laid hold of [us].” In other words, we all need to be diligent in appropriating all that God desires to make a reality in our lives through Christ. No doubt God pours out many blessings even while we may remain completely ignorant of His ways and purposes. In His grace, for example, He pours out rain and provides sunshine for all (Mt. 5:45). Furthermore, our Lord keeps a watchful eye, caring, protecting, and even praying for His own (Mt. 6:26-30; Heb. 7:25).
However, the Scriptures make it clear that many of the blessings God has laid up for believers become a reality in our lives only if we “trust and obey.” For example, in the book of Genesis, we read of God’s word concerning Abraham: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him” (Gen. 18:19). From these words, it is clear that although it was the Lord who would ultimately bless Abraham and his descendents, they were responsible to continue to “keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice.” God never fails to keep His promises, but we have a role to play if we are to enjoy the blessings He has for us.
God’s Heart Revealed
One of the richest blessings believers may appropriate and enjoy this side of eternity is the blessing of God’s Word. Alas for many even among God’s people, the Bible is no more than a puzzle and a dry one at that! Many a saint who once enjoyed reading and meditating on God’s Word has been sidetracked. The reading of the Scriptures is no longer a priority; other literature has come in to take its place. If the eyes of any such fall upon these words, we would encourage you, beloved, to again take up God’s Word and begin anew to read, meditate, and assimilate it. The blessings of God’s Word cannot be overstated.
All of Scripture is a blessing to the child of God, but the book of Revelation promises a peculiar blessing to all who read it, hear it being read, and take to heart what it says (Rev. 1:3). This last criterion is especially important for, towards its close, God pronounces a blessing specifically to those who “keep the words of this book” (Rev. 22:7). Sadly, many who read and hear go away without keeping (holding on to) the words of this Book.
Although this principle is true in a very special way of the book of Revelation, it is valid with regard to the whole Bible. If we desire the full blessing of the Scriptures, we must not only take in the Word of God but also obey it. True and full blessing comes when we actually keep those things that are written in the Bible. Isn’t this exactly what James tells us in his letter: “But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jas. 1:22). But how exactly does God’s Word bless us?
Understanding God’s Will
I remember walking into a Christian bookstore and noting the many books with titles similar to “Finding God’s Will.” For most Christians, finding the will of God seems to be the most important subject of discussion and rightly so. If there is that one thing we all wish, it is to know God’s will for our lives. And yet the will of God seems to elude or confuse many of us. No wonder many Christian authors feel the need to write on such a subject!
But however well-intentioned these authors may be, no Christian will ever truly understand God’s will for his life without a clear understanding of God’s Word. The Bible alone makes plain the will of God for each of us. And if we don’t acquaint ourselves with the contents of the Bible and seek God through reading and meditating on His Word, every other book or means of arriving at God’s will will be in vain. God’s Word alone can shed the light necessary to illuminate our path (Ps. 119:105) and lead us to His dwelling (Ps. 43:3).
Knowing God Himself
The only way to truly know God is to know His Word. This is because God has revealed Himself, His works, and His ways in His Word. Like the incarnate Word, the written Word “has declared [explained] Him” (Jn. 1:18). The Greek word here translated “declared” is a word from which we get our English word exegesis. Just as Christ has revealed God to us, so the Bible also explains God to us. Can we then neglect to read God’s Word and claim to know Him well? The apostle Peter admonishes us to “grow in the grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). He had previously admonished that we should “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word that [we] may grow by it” (1 Pet. 2:2). Obviously in Peter’s mind there was no way to grow in the grace and knowledge of God Himself apart from the Scriptures. Grace and the knowledge of Christ are connected—we cannot have the one without the other.
Growing in Christ-likeness
Finally, we conclude by saying that the more a believer knows God through reading and keeping His Word, the more he grows in Christ-likeness. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is in the Word of God that we behold the glory of the Lord. Paul went on to say that “God had granted us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Since the written Word is the only authentic representation of the incarnate Word, surely one essential way to behold the glory of God is to prayerfully look into the Scriptures on a daily basis and allow the Spirit to transform us. We are washed, cleansed, sanctified, and transformed by the Word (Ps. 119:9; Jn. 17:17; Eph. 5:26) as the Holy Spirit reveals it to our hearts and then empowers us to live it.
What a wonderful blessing the Bible is to us! However, we cannot enter into and enjoy this blessing to the full unless we do our part in reading it and then rely on God for help to keep His Word (Lk. 11:28). May the Lord grant His daily strength as we pray: “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law” (Ps. 119:18) and that we may live with increasing conformity to it.