Over the last year, we were slammed with information about Covid, mask-wearing, vaccines, and so much more. Shockingly, we went through a season where the government told churches not to gather, and some that they could not sing! How do you know who to believe anymore? What’s the truth? 

Beloved, you must be grounded in the Word of God! 

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. – 2 Timothy 3:16

Contrary to popular opinion, there is right and wrong. Some things are true, and others are false. The Word of God will teach you to do what is right! The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and it teaches us what is true and points out what is wrong in our lives. 

Let me give you a few critical reasons why you must be immersed in the Word of God. 

1. The Word of God is the key to your spiritual health! 

Jesus said, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We need a healthy diet of words—but not just any words—GOD’S WORDS! When you feed on the Word of God, you get healthy! 

How is your appetite for the Bible? When a person loses their appetite, it’s a danger sign; it is a sign of sickness. If you have no hunger for the Word of God, it’s a sign of a spiritual sickness that will begin to eat away and erode every area of your life. 

When you are desperate for God, you will become dependent on the sustaining power of His Word. 

Perhaps one of my greatest concerns in this season has been the amount of “junk food” that people have been feeding on. People have been filling up on words from social media and the news. Yikes! I grew up hearing things like, “Garbage in, garbage out.” The reason so many people are talking garbage is that they’ve been feeding on it. Others get their fill from their favorite Bible teacher, which is okay, but it is no substitute for your own Bible study! Hear my heart—you need to be feeding on God’s Word personally! You are not supposed to live off the words God spoke to your pastor; God has a personal word and time of encounter for you! Read your Bible, encounter God there. Read your Bible and change your life. 

I was up before the sun hoping for a word from you! – Psalm 119:145 MSG

2. The Voice of the Lord is in your Bible!

There is nothing more important to your life in this season than for you to hear the voice of the Lord! The Lord wants to talk to you. His voice will speak to you about the relationship He longs to have with you! The overall theme of the Bible is God’s pursuit of you. He intends to adopt you through faith in Christ into His family! 

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. – Ephesians 1:4-5

His voice will speak to you about guidelines for your life. He will teach you what is best and direct you in the way you are supposed to go (Isaiah 48:17). The Great Shepherd of your soul, Jesus, will guide you along paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3). The world has just plain flipped upside down and has thrown out even the concept of right or wrong. You need to hear the voice of the Lord about sexuality, holiness, pornography, sex outside the marriage covenant, and so much more. 

Remember the words of the Apostle Paul where he said, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic. – Psalm 29:4 

I hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you right now through His Word. Go ahead and open your Bible to Psalm 23. Read and listen; He is saying: 

I am the Lord, your shepherd, you have all that you need! All that you need is wrapped up in me. I created you to cling to me, to be close to me. Nothing in your life will feel entirely right as long as you are filling up your life with things other than me. Now watch me, beloved, see what I do for you. I make you rest because I know you are at your best when you rest. The best only comes out of you when you are in a place of rest. I lead you into the peace of my presence! Yes, you are called to live in peace. Peace is your divine destination. Peace—my peace—is your inheritance. There in that place of peace, I restore your soul. I renew your strength. I make every part of you that is alive, fully alive! 

I restore everything that was stolen from you. I restore everything that was damaged and broken in you. I AM the Lord, your Healer! And even when you walk through the darkest days, you will not be afraid! Why? Because I am right here close beside you! Oh, too many people have been more aware of viruses and the problems that surround them than they have been aware of me. But not you, my child! Look, take note, I’m not distant. I’m not far from you! No, the Lord your Shepherd is near you! I AM with you! My unfailing love and mercy will pursue you all the days of your life! Peace be to you!

3. If you don’t obey the Word of God, your life is heading toward a mighty crash! 

Reading God’s Word isn’t enough; you have to obey it! Jesus said something that must have shocked those who heard it the first time. He told them that whoever listens to His teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds his house on a solid foundation. And when the rains come, and the winds beat against that house, it WILL NOT collapse! 

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come, and the winds beat against that house, IT WILL COLLAPSE with a mighty crash. – Matthew 7:26-27

In the last days, the Scriptures warn against false teachers and that some will depart from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1). The ones who are most at risk to false teachers and falling away from the faith in the last days are the ones who hear the Bible but don’t obey it; they are heading toward a mighty crash. Don’t let that be you! 

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted. – John 15:7 

You are my friends if you do what I command. – John 15:14 

IF is one of the smallest, yet biggest, words in the Bible. If you do what Jesus commands, then you are His friend! 

So my friend, just get started. Open up your Bible, get into that book, encounter God there and change the rest of your life! 

Your Friend and Pastor,
Kevin Berry