"How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103)
Have you ever wanted to become so hungry for God's word? Or have you ever wished to have a hunger for God's word, similar to some preachers or Bible figures you've heard of?
If you have, then keep desiring.
Growing a love for God's word need not be difficult, much less impossible. God's people in Bible times had it more difficult than us, but they loved God's word. Think about it:
- Because there was no mass circulation of Scripture, there was no way for everyone to have a physical copy of the Bible.
- There were no smartphones during Bible times, and so digital Bible apps weren't there yet.
- Everyone who wanted to hear God's word would have to hear it from a prophet or from a scribe who had a written copy, totally unlike our situations today.
Yet we read in different parts of our Bible today that during those times, some people loved God's word. Some said they hid God's word in their hearts. Some said they heard the Lord speak.
Sometimes we can be praying for a voice to speak from heaven, as if God's word isn't written down. We keep complaining that we get bored or sleepy reading God's word, as if it's the word's fault. Worse, we keep looking for a prophet or someone to "tell us what God said," whereas we have God's Holy Spirit, who is able to give us understanding of what God's word says, living inside of us, but we keep ignoring Him.
Growing in God's word
We are truly in a better situation than those who went before us. Why not grow a love for God's word like they did?
To help us with that, here are a few tips on cultivating a hunger for God's word.
1) Realize it came from the mouth of God
God's word, the Bible, is not just a "book" that we read to get some inspiration or some encouragement. It is literally God's word. Unless we get a revelation that God's word is God's word, we won't treat it as such.
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God..." Let's think about that.
2) Meditate on it in relation to your life
When we continually meditate on God's word, we will get to realize how beautiful and wonderful it is. More than that, when we keep meditating on God's word we will find the truth and be able to distinguish what is right from wrong. Psalm 119:104 tells us,
"Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way."
God told Joshua to meditate on His word so that he may keep His commandments, and not turn to the left or the right and be in sin or in error (see Joshua 1:7-8). Because Joshua obeyed God's word, he was prosperous and successful.
3) Obey it
Lastly, obey the word. James 1:22 tells us,
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
We need to obey God's word, not just hear it. There are some think they are Godly or religious because they hear God's word, but because they don't obey it they are merely deceiving themselves. We need to obey God's word.
When we obey God's word, we will be blessed in what we do (see James 1:25).
