Letting the Word Dwell Richly

Colossians 3:16

The apostle exhorts us to, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you." Pastor Groves mentions this to the flock nearly every week of the year. Here is a great illustration of it.

A beautiful and touching story is told of a young French girl who had been born blind. After she learned to read by touch, a friend gave her a Braille copy of Mark's gospel. She read it so much that her fingers became calloused and insensitive. In an effort to regain her feeling, she cut the skin from the ends of her fingers. Tragically, however, her callouses were replaced by permanent and even more insensitive scars. She sobbingly gave the book a good-bye kiss, saying," Farewell, farewell, sweet word of my heavenly Father." In doing so, she discovered that her lips were even more sensitive than her fingers had been, and she spent the rest of her life reading her great treasure with her lips. Would that every Christian had such an appetite for the Word of God! The exhortation is to the effect that the Christian is to so yield himself to the Word that there is a certain at hominess of the Word in his being. The Word should be able to feel at home in his heart. The saint should give it unrestricted liberty in his life.

Is Christ Himself becoming daily more precious to us? Is our faith in Him growing so that we confidently trust Him for everything? Alexander MacLaren says, "Meditation, the familiarizing ourselves with the ethics of Scripture, and with the hopes and powers that are treasured in Jesus Christ, so that our minds are made up upon a great many thorny questions as to what we ought to do, and that when crises or dangers come, as they have a knack of coming, very suddenly, and are sprung upon us unexpectedly, we shall be able, without much difficulty, or much time spent in perplexed searching, to fall back upon the principles that decide our conduct, that is essential to all successful and victorious Christian life."

2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." And why does Peter remind us of this? To increase our acquaintance with our Savior, so do we have any more of Christ's beauty in our character, do we have any more of His grace in our hearts, or do we have any more of His truths in our minds? Any more of these things than a year ago, five years ago or longer? Keep yourself in touch with Christ and Christ will make you grow. The only preventative of falling away from steadfastness is continual progress. Psalm 119:97."O how I love Your law, it is my meditation all the day." The great English puritan John Newton said, "The more you know Him, the better you will trust Him, the more you trust Him, the better you will love Him, the more you love Him, the better you will serve Him."

Elder Randy Slak