QUALITY WORD TIME

Psalms 119:162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

It is our God-given human nature to appreciate, cherish and protect the fruit of our labor more than what is simply given to us for free. In the case of Salvation, there is no doubt that it is free. There is nothing we can do to earn it; nothing we can do to annul it. It’s like birth--once it happens, we can die, but dying is in itself the proof that we once had life; the event cannot ‘un-happen’. But to be nourished and properly fed by the Word is different. It takes effort and will, and it is our responsibility to do it

The treasures of the Word are found through hard work, laboring in study and/or prayer. The first battle is to realize the need; that we cannot live without it. Next, the fight is against our daily businesses which have decreed that we don’t have time for the Word. We need to prioritize. We need to fight for the conviction that the gain of this investment will give us more wisdom than reading any other ‘how-to’ magazine; more class than any other fashion review; more entertainment than all the fiction and mystery books in the world.

Once this battle is won we finally sit down to dig for the cherished treasure. Our spirit relaxes in the arms of the Lord, but we are not used to this quiet and calm atmosphere so the devil comes in with a spirit of drowsiness and sleep. At that time the battle is to get up, to take a stand, to drink a glass of water;, take a breath of fresh air and rebuke this spiritual drowsiness. We may need to read a passage several times when we feel that it has a value and importance that eroded us in our sleepiness.

After a couple of hours, after the darkness of a great fight, the light finally comes as some truth downs on our spirit. A concept is conceived; a spiritual principle was uncovered and we are elated. We rejoice as one who has found great reward. We fought a good fight and won. The feeling is as of one who fought a great war and gets to divide the spoil with the princes--as one who searched long and hard at the bottom of the ocean and finally found the hidden treasure-- as one who has loved long and true, and whose love has finally been requited.

And oh, there is more to this idea. It is a paradox, but while we believe that what was not worth fighting for does not own much value, our lazy nature also likes easy gains. We like to rely on the processed and ‘pastor-ized’ foods (the foods already processed by our local pastor). It is the sick and weak who only eat easily chewed soft foods, because they cannot ‘stomach’ the meat of the Word in their lives. This meat of the Word only comes straight form the true shepherd, Jesus-Christ.

The personal digging and searching for the precious Word will take us to that level of understanding truth that is hard to hear; to truth that challenges every iota of comfort in our soul (John 6:60); to the true coarse barley bread of the Word.

Let us consider the quality of our Word time. As in a soldier who hones his weapon, this is the decisive factor in the outcome of the war in your life and service for the Lord. Time spent sharpening the sickle is not wasted.

Matthew 13:3-8 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; (4) And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: (5) Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: (6) And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. (7) And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: (8) But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: (46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Luke 15:8-9 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? (9) And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.