We all study…something...daily.
We study things we must study for school or work. And we also study the things that excite our hearts. The latter is what vividly displays the fruit of what we most love, cherish, and value in life.
Regardless of what we profess with our mouths, what we choose to study, without any external prodding, discloses the deepest desires of our heart. What we choose to study is what develops our character—establishing how we think, act, and feel about every aspect of our lives (people, places, and things).
We study things we must study for school or work. And we also study the things that excite our hearts. The latter is what vividly displays the fruit of what we most love, cherish, and value in life.
Regardless of what we profess with our mouths, what we choose to study, without any external prodding, discloses the deepest desires of our heart. What we choose to study is what develops our character—establishing how we think, act, and feel about every aspect of our lives (people, places, and things).
If you love food you will research and study it: nutrition and caloric content, medicinal uses, flavor profiles, food prep, and cooking methods.
If you love photography you will research and study it: best camera to use, best indoor and outdoor lighting, editing software, and angles.
If you love your spouse and children, you will research and study how to best love and care for them as God commanded: how to keep the home, how to budget and be good stewards of all that God has given you; how to best communicate and pray for your family, all to the glory of God.
If you love the Lord your God, you will research and study Him: seeking His will, glory, and pleasure through reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing His Word; praying without ceasing in accordance with His Word, and fervently seeking opportunities to work out your salvation as you see the Day of Christ approaching nearer and nearer.
If you love photography you will research and study it: best camera to use, best indoor and outdoor lighting, editing software, and angles.
If you love your spouse and children, you will research and study how to best love and care for them as God commanded: how to keep the home, how to budget and be good stewards of all that God has given you; how to best communicate and pray for your family, all to the glory of God.
If you love the Lord your God, you will research and study Him: seeking His will, glory, and pleasure through reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing His Word; praying without ceasing in accordance with His Word, and fervently seeking opportunities to work out your salvation as you see the Day of Christ approaching nearer and nearer.
Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,in the company of the upright, in the congregation.Great are the works of the LORD,studied by all who delight in them.
~Psalm 111:1-2, ESV
A few weeks ago, my soul was immensely refreshed and well-fed through Dr. R.C. Sproul’s teaching lessons entitled, Why Study the Bible? and Private Interpretation. Though I’ve watched and listened to these lessons before, I enjoy watching and listening to them at least once...every year. Why? Because every time I watch and listen to Dr. Sproul teach on these basic, life-long practices for every Christian, I learn something new about my Lord and also, more truth about myself. And my heart grows fonder toward my Lord and His Word, and farther away from myself, my opinions, and temptations.
I strongly encourage all of you to examine your hearts with the Word of God, so that you too may know what you love most: the Lord Jesus, or yourself and all that is in the world (1 Jn 2:16).
For to God, it is never about what we profess or the way we describe ourselves to others that reveals where our devotions lie. But it is what we obey on a daily basis that reveals what masters our souls (Mt 7:21-23, 1 Jn 2:17; 5:3-4).
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
~1 John 2:28-29, ESV
If you’d like more help in getting and keeping the right and high view of God, and therefore, the right and low view of man, please refer to my Resources page.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
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