The Tablet of Your Heart

WE ARE NEVER TOO YOUNG OR TOO OLD TO READ GOD’S WORD

God has again impressed upon my heart the extreme importance of knowing, speaking, and committing His Word to memory. For He says, “My people are destroyed because they don’t know Me” (Hosea 4:6 TLB).

How can we know God? The Bible reveals God’s character, His heart, and His great love for us. His Word teaches us how to follow His example. His Word encourages, directs, guides, disciplines, and it defines sin, so that we know how to recognize and avoid sin. His Word reveals who we are in Christ and our role on earth. His Word reveals the enemy’s clever schemes to kill, rob, and destroy. His Word is knowledge, power, and all truth that can save us from the world’s many deceptions, traps, and dangers.

“God’s Word is in the heavens and is the same Word that set the foundations of the world. For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus, the Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made, that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John1: 1-3 NKJV).

“[Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, [the Jewish people], and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld [Jesus’] glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1: 10-14 NKJV).

Jesus is the incarnate Word, which is Spirit and all truth. When you read His Word, you are reading the very heart of God. For that reason, it is imperative that we write His Word upon the tablet of our heart, for it generates an active, life-giving power in and through us. The Apostle John said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63 NKJV).

The naysayers state that God’s Word is nothing more than an expose´ of opinions and fanciful stories. Jesus clearly said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will by no means pass away” (Luke 21:32-34). “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8). His Words are like indelible ink to be permanently imprinted upon the heart.

Why is God’s Word so important? Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). In other words, nourishing the body with food is important, but more importantly, the soul must be nourished with the Word of God. It is the soul that seeks worldly joys and pleasures to fill those empty places that constantly strive for things to satisfy. Alas, the world’s offerings can never satisfy a hungry soul.

God’s Word is powerful and firmly fixed in heaven (Psalm 119:89). It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

We might be able to fool others and ourselves, but God’s Word exposes the true intentions and motives of every heart. For the Lord says that His Word, “is like a fire” that ignites a light in men’s souls and purifies, cleanses, and illuminates their conscience. And “like a hammer,” His Word breaks the rocky places of the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 23:29).

GOD spoke His Word and the worlds were formed and so was all creation. He continually urges us to speak His Word, for there is living, creative, restorative, delivering power in His Word. Thus, in committing His Word to memory, should we not have access to a Bible, we would be able to speak God’s Word with His complete power and authority.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that we may be competent and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God’s living Word, when actively working within us, fully equips us for all good decision making.

We are told in Joshua 1:8 that God’s Word must not depart from our mouth, but we must meditate on it day and night, so that we are careful to do His Word according to all that is written in it. Then, we will make our way prosperous and will have good success.

His Word is the linchpin to receiving everything we need to successfully navigate this life on earth and experience joy that only the Lord can give. For His precepts are right, giving joy to the heart. His commands are radiant, giving light (revelation) to the eyes (our understanding) (Psalm 19:8).

God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Without His Word to light our way, we fall into error and are caught by the world’s deceptions. For the Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God (I Corinthians 1:18). Therefore, we devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of His Word (Acts 6:4).

God’s Word heals and delivers us from destruction (Psalm 107:20). Therefore, “let the Word of Christ dwell in [us] richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in [our] hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16 ESV).

PRAYER: Father, turn my eyes from seeking worthless things that have no eternal value in Your kingdom, and help me to seek Your way and purposes in Your Word. Help me to write Your Word on the tablet of my heart, so that I may know, speak, and live Your truths with faith, power, and authority. In Jesus name, amen.

“I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11) 

Picture courtesy of David Beale