Do you have a favorite book of the Bible?
New Testament books can seem more applicable to us, but Old Testament books set the stage for why we need Christ and the life we can have in him. Reading God’s Word, seeking his wisdom for understanding and application, grows our knowledge of who God is and who we are in him.
If we just pick and sample, we set limits. We might just want to see Jesus as Friend, but do we remember that he said to his disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you… I chose you…” (John 15:14-16 NIV)? Some sources cite in the Bible close to 200 names or titles for Jesus. He is called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NIV), and so much more! Reading the Old Testament can help us remember that our triune God is holy and that we are to be set apart for him.
It’s a heart matter, really. God knows our heart, and he wants our obedience to him coming from a heart of love for him. This love will move us toward honoring and serving him. Jesus said to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NIV, letter L in Do LAPS!). These words come from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which God gave to Moses for his chosen people. Learning God’s ways and obeying them demonstrate that we belong to God.
God blesses obedience to him – the greatest blessing being his presence and all that results from being his child. We are to depend on him, trust him, obey him, and rest in him. This comes to the forefront when the proclaiming of him and living out his truths usher in suffering. We read of the prophets and the disciples having to persevere on account of this. And like them, we must hold fast to our eternal hope as we persevere in our faith.
Even a leader of King David’s Levitical choirs, Asaph, wrote about persevering in his faith amidst the ways of the wicked: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26 NIV). God is faithful, and even “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful – for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13 NIV, letter F for Faithful in Follow and Lead).
The power of God gives us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3-4). In light of that, the apostle Peter encouraged believers to “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8 NIV).
Let’s put our faith into action as we seek God through his Word and follow him with a heart of love.
See the consistency of God’s character throughout the Bible in each weekly study of a Heart Training book.