Worth Repeating - December 18, 2017

Deuteronomy 30: 11, 14 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. . . . No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (NIV)

Biblical literacy is not about mastering a body of literature. Rather, can we embody these accounts and then live out the scriptural stories?

In these verses, Moses is addressing the “simplicity and accessibility”* of the Law. The Jews of the Old Testament knew God’s word. It was hammered into them from birth. It was important for it to be in their mouths and in their hearts so they could obey it.

I am by no means bi-lingual but you can’t live where I do and not absorb a few words and phrases in Spanish. But when I hear or read something in Spanish, I don’t know what it means until I translate it into English. Someone who is truly fluent in both languages would not have to stop and rethink the meaning of the words. Similarly, we should know God’s word so well that we “think from scripture.”* If we were “fluent” in our knowledge of the Bible, we would be able to think in the language of the Bible. Facing temptation? With God’s word in your heart, you can readily apply the appropriate scriptural response. Have an important decision to make? God’s word supplies helpful decision-making tools.

Just as I will never learn to speak Spanish if I don’t study it and practice it, I will never be fluent in the language of scripture if I don’t spend time allowing it to permeate my head and my heart so that I can apply it to my life. For a Christian in the USA, the word is readily available. There is no excuse if it is not in your mouth and in your heart.

With the Holy Spirit, studying Scripture becomes more than just reading words; it means storing those words in the reservoir of our hearts so that at the right time he can draw from that well and give us a drink.*