DESIRING THE WORD
What exactly does desiring the word mean? There is a difference between reading out of duty, and reading out of joy. We should have a hunger for the word, and desire to read it. We will get more out of the bible if we have an appetite for it than if we simply read it out of a sense of legalistic duty. The more you desire food, the more you enjoy it and get out of it. That doesn’t mean you won’t get anything out of it, but most of it will pass through with little consideration, and therefore be quickly forgotten.
We remember the things we enjoy. If we don’t have much interest in something most of the details will go straight over our heads, but when we love something we pay more attending to it, and therefore retain more.
We should have an attitude like Job and Jeremiah.
Job 23:12 …I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Do you lack a desire for God’s word? Then read it. The more you read the scriptures the greater your desire will grow. The more you read the more you will understand, and the more you will get out of it. Often the reason we lose our hunger for it, is because we don’t feel like we’re getting anything out of it. But that could also be partly because of what we dealt with in part two, not studing the word. If we only ever gleam over the scriptures we won’t get much out of it, and therefore lose interest.
So read the word, study the word, ask God to open your eyes to His word and your hunger for it will continue to grow. It’s like a spiral either going up or down. One thing will lead to another, either for the better or for the worse.
Part four cover our attitude to the scriptures, and coming to them like a child.
