Article

I put a link to an article by Thomas Watson entitled "A Godly Man is a Lover of the Word." Lets take a few weeks (or more if necessary) to discuss the key points in this article.

Growing to Love the Word of God!

In order to live lives as Godly men, we need to be constantly developing a deeper love for the Word of God. This is not always easy, because our lives are busy and there are always other things we can be doing. But as Moses wrote, the Word is our very life! (Deuteronomy 32:47) If this is the case, and it is no idle thing for us, we must find ways to battle complacency and every other obstacle in our path and make time for earnest study of God's Word each day.

But its also important that we approach the Word not just to learn it in an academic sense (though this has much value); the Pharisees were tremendous Biblical scholars and had vast intellectual knowledge of God's Word. However, their hearts were completely callous to the God that was speaking through His Word. Instead they were seeking to abandon the truth and righteousness that God had set forth and establish their own (Romans 10: 1-4). So what we need is for God to graciously grant us a heart of flesh, instead of our inherent hearts of stone, that we might be alive and responsive to Christ and His Word. I think this should underscore our approach to the Word, because only God can truly open hearts to receive it. Paul prays this for the Ephesians in 1: 17-18. Its also interesting how Paul refers to the veil that still remains on hearts that are dull (2 Cor 3: 14-15). We could learn the entire Bible and immerse ourselves in it constantly, but if our minds are dull and hearts are veiled it would do us no good!

So I think the key is to be in the Word consistently, and make it the foundation of our daily lives. We need God's help and grace to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from doing this. And may our fervent prayer be that God softens our hearts that the Word of Christ may dwell in us richly, and daily shape us into the men He wants us to be!