Ablaze for God - Day 21 Devotional

“You Will Be Accountable for Feeding
Others the Word of God”
Submitted by Jeremy Mavis
Key text: 2 Timothy 4:2

Before you feed others the Word of God, you need to know the Word of God for yourself. So how well do you know the Word? Could you describe the Word if someone were to ask you what it is all about? Could you tell someone what was contained in the Word? Could you communicate knowledge of the Word or passion for the Word? What is the Word of God? If you thought I was talking about the Bible, you are mistaken. I was referring to Jesus as the Word of God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Knowing the Word of God is often thought of as an ability to accumulate a bunch of facts and knowledge about God and the Bible. Rather, knowing the Word of God should be a continual pursuit of knowing—intimately and personally—the God revealed in Jesus. Sure that “knowing” can come to light through reading the Bible. Knowing the Scriptures is vital to a growing relationship with Christ. However, reading the Bible should not become an end in and of itself. Reading the Bible should ALWAYS lead us to worship. And, I don’t mean swaying back and forth with your hands in the air to some worship CD. By worship I mean drop down on your face, heart ablaze with intense reverence and fervor to pursue and follow the Lord! This should be our pursuit.

Does this mean that EVERY time you read your Bible you should peel yourself from the floor? Not necessarily always your body, but definitely always your heart. Knowing Jesus and following him leads us to a deep and abiding relationship with God the Father.

Feeding other people the Word of God means less about “teaching” children Bible stories, and way more about being an active and engaged Jesus person who lives out the character and ethic of the kingdom of God in everyday life.

The checkout lady at Wal-Mart needs a dose of Jesus, the Word of God, as she is scanning your Oreo cookies. She may not make it to the church building on Sunday morning, but she can sure be fed by the Word of God—Jesus—by the way you interact and bring blessing to her for those brief moments you are in her lane. A simple act of grace in the express lane can be transformed into a momentary “feeding” frenzy on the Word as Jesus is fleshed out in our daily lives.