The Word—Do We Crave It?
“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
(Colossians 3: 16)
This world and all its trouble brings a heart-heaviness. I am not sure about you, but I find it hard at times to not see the world, the anguish, the pain, the turmoil, the despair. It’s a lot! As a student of journalism in my collegiate career and early life, I enjoyed the thrill of the news media and all the revelation, the “story” that came from the hunt. There is a mantra that a news reporter has heard dozens of times: ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’ So often, I remember working on the lead page of the paper, watching the clock, because at 12pm, the layout had to be ready to go to the film room, the plate room, and then to the press. Ah, the press. The sweet scent of the newspaper ink, a good ink, one that remained on your fingers long after the newspaper had been gently laid aside after reading.
- I truly love(d) journalism & the world of media.
- I truly love(d) broadcasting & the world of radio.
- I truly love(d) the written word.
Earlier in my life, I was fascinated by the news. We subscribed to two newspapers, and I would set my alarm so that I could get up early, make a pot of coffee, walk out the driveway to where the faithful deliveryman had tossed my daily paper. I remember the thickness of the rolled-up paper, one so full that a rubber-band had to be placed around its fullness.
Once inside the house, I would pull away the rubber-band, allowing the paper to reclaim its once flat shape, and then I would begin the task of separating the advertisements from the news. It was the “news” I sought. So, with a hot, steaming cup of coffee and my daily paper, I would take up my spot on the blue couch where I would begin my hour-long reading of the local, state, national, and world news. A length of time, reading, learning, and becoming “informed”—that was what I found important, and that was where my early morning time was found.
Times have changed.
I still love to read the daily newspaper, even though now, thirty-six years later, my subscription resides in just the one—local newspaper. I think I will always be a fan of this particular newspaper because of the love that remains in my heart for the family who once owned the newspaper and who gave me my first “real” job in journalism.
Yes, times have changed & I have changed & I am so thankful that I am—being changed.
Today, my days end with the reading of the newspaper. My husband calls it “old news” because the stories have usually already been reported on television. Yet still, I read the newspaper, page-by-page & section-by-section, holding the newsprint within my hands as the day comes to an end. I believe I will always end my days that way.
Thus, my life has remained somewhat the same, but my mornings have changed.
I am older. I have changed. I have taught for so many years that now I must stop and count.
I still crave the written word, but these days, I find my craving is satisfied in a different way and in a different place. These days, I begin my days differently.
- Still I arise early, though I am forced to spend some time stretching my body when I arise.
- Still the sky is dark when I arise, though I am not required to set my alarm; my back is now my alarm.
- Still I desire cups of hot coffee, though I prefer a French Press over a Mr. Coffee cup of joe.
- Still I teach, though I now share my classroom with older students, those who seek a collegiate degree beyond a high school diploma.
- Still I desire quiet time of reading, though I now find my need for words is not satisfied in the daily news but in the Word of God.
- Still I am me, but I am not the same me I once was, way back then in 1984.
I have changed.
Times have changed.
Circumstances have changed.
I am me, and I am not me.
God is still my Father, just as He was in 1986.
Jesus is still my Savior, just as He was in 1986.
The Holy Spirit still leads my steps, just as He did in 1986.
I am still married to the same wonderful man, just as I was in 1986.
But times have changed.
My “me” has become a different “me.”
Maybe your “me” has evolved too, changing into a different “you.”
There is a great evangelist—Dwight L. Moody—who once said these words: “So few grow because so few study.” In the early years of my adulthood, I would not have appreciated Moody’s statement; today, I do.
As I have “grown-up” in Christ, I have come to realize this truth: God’s Word brings me:
- Such peace & tranquility—
- Such teaching & refining—
- Such leading & direction—
- Such understanding & a deep desire to grow more in the wisdom found in God—
- Such discipline & reforming—
- Such a deep desire to daily “dig” into God’s Holy Word.
Let me pause right here, right now and say, “Thank You, God,” for this desire does not come from anyone—but Him!
Let me pause right here, right now and say, “I have SO MUCH MORE GROWTH that needs to happen. There is so much more “growing up in the LORD that I need to gain.”
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
(Colossians 3: 15-16)
- We are one body in Christ.
- We are to dwell within God’s Word.
- We are to delight in the Holy Spirit’s teaching.
- We are to be thoroughly equipped.
- We are to gain wisdom to salvation.
- We are to learn & live & love & crave The Word of God!
Way back, when my husband first became a believer, a Christian, our pastor led us through a Bible study, one where we met together to discuss the Bible, one where we discussed the passages that confused us, and one where we worked to memorize Scripture.
Today, I wish to leave you with a beautiful melody by Jess Ray & Taylor Leonhardt—“Come & Rest.”
“Come and Rest/
Come and Rest/
Come and Rest in the love of God.”
May we “come & rest” within God’s Holy Word.
- Our lives should be lived as a reflection of WHO we believe & WHO we trust.
- Our lives should be lived as a study of WHO leads us & WHO we faithfully follow.
- Our lives should be lived as a walk with the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
- Our lives should be lived with a thankful heart for all that ALMIGHTY GOD had done for us.
- Our lives should be lived with total obedience to the HOLY SPIRIT’S leading.
- Our lives should reflect WHOSE we are & the WORD we crave.
So today, I end with my first memorized Bible passage (other than John 3:16).
I wish Bro. Jim were still alive today so I could thank him for his early teaching & leading, for the way he instilled within my heart a craving for God’s Word.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and [is] profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man [or woman] of God may be adequate, equipped [thoroughly furnished] for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3: 16-17)