Intimate Delight

"Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of the term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and  unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts. " 

A.W. Tozer, "The Pursuit of God," p 9-10. Emphasis mine.

We can fall into several errors towards the Word.

• Devalue it's place in our life and base our "faith" totally on emotion, others words, and experience
• Become focused on a didactic knowledge of the Word and fail to be spiritually nourished by it

The Word of God is meant to

• Be a conversation with God
• Introduce us to God
• Nourish us
• Assist in our transformation into His image
• Provide a pattern for life
• Wash and cleans us
• Correct us
• Reprove us
• Teach us 
• Train us in righteousness
• Equip us for every good work to which He calls
• Give us great peace
• Keep us from stumbling and being offended as we surrender to the Lord of the Word

We must avoid either neglecting the Word or treating the Word like an academic subject. We need to approach the Word expecting to hear from the God of the Word. We need to learn to practice conversational/relational reading of the Word. As we do our "Bible study" truly will become an intimate delight.

May your Bible study bring you great intimacy and delight, may you be nourished, fed, changed by the time you spend with God interacting with His message to you.




©2011 D.R.G. - First shared on my personal blog Choosing Joy 9-18-2011