Wednesday, July 2, 2014

A STEADY DIET AND A SHINING LIGHT

by Riley Nelson
A steady diet of the word of God will help us to realize our need for God in our lives more each day.  It will also help us come to realize our responsibility to “feed” the starving masses with this same word.   We will yearn to fulfill the words of Christ, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20a).  It will also better equip us to “fear God and keep His commandments…” (Ecc. 12:13).  When we are constantly feeding upon God’s word, we should be filled with the desire to serve God faithfully.
The apostle Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2).  The people to whom Peter was writing had been and were suffering from persecution.  They needed strength, both from the word of God and from other Christians.  Peter serves as a perfect example of a Christian who knew how to encourage and uplift others.
Desiring the word is something that must last our entire lifetime.  Many times older people simply stop eating, and before long their body gives up, for lack of nourishment.  The same can be true in the spiritual sense.  Some Christians forget this fact and in their later years lose sight of their goal.  They fail to partake of the words of life and just as the dying body turns cold, so does their zeal for God.
Parents desire that their children have the right food so that proper growth occurs.  It is also important that children of God feed upon the proper food.  Home Bible study should happen every day, this way the parents know their children are being fed spiritual food.  Sadly some parents rely on “Bible Study” classes to do all their work.  The best teacher in the world cannot plan, water, and fertilize in the forty minutes or so they have a child in class, it takes work by the parents to encourage and help children learn the Bible.
This spiritual food will help them to realize their responsibilities as Christians.  It will help them fulfill the great commission, to go and teach others.  It is such a shame when it is said of Christians, as the Hebrew writer described in Hebrews 5:12-14, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God…”
The Bible needs to be used as a lamp.  The Psalmist recorded in Psalm 119:105, 130 the following, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.”  If we will let the word of God light our path we will find life easier to bear.  Look about us at how those of the world spend their time worrying about tomorrow, looking for peace and never finding it.  Many end up never truly happy.  The one who is wise enough to allow his path to be lit by the word of God will come to know true peace and happiness, and will not spend hours and days worrying about things.  The light of God’s word will bring one to salvation.  It shows bright upon the love God has for man; it enables man to break the darkness of sin and worldliness and to see clearly the way to a better life.  It tells of God’s plan for man’s redemption through Christ.  The book of Acts tells how the people developed faith by God’s word (Rom. 10:17).  They then repented of their sins, willing to confess the name of Christ as the Son of God, and were immersed in water for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:22-47, 8:36-39).  This great lamp shines on the path to be taken by the Christian. (Colossians 3:1-17).
~Riley Nelson


Bio:  Riley Nelson currently preaches for the Richmond Hill church of Christ in Richmond Hill, GA just south of Savannah.  He has labored there for 23 years.  He and his wife, Susie, have been married 35 years and have two sons and one grandson.

Links:  http://richmondhillcoc.com