What Not to Forget This Christmas!

Psalm 119:10-16 (NIV)
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
I find that it is so easy to be busy and not have time to read God’s Word. Lately, I’ve noticed that my soul is craving more and more time in the Word and I’m finding my flesh, to be more and more unable to meet that demand. I’ve got places to go and people to see. I’ve got deadlines to meet and concerts to attend. Each day is as busy as I make it, and it seems I’ve made them too busy.
What Not to Forget This Christmas is that we are people of the Word of God. We are commanded as followers of Jesus Christ to be in the Word on a daily basis. It is the single most important revelation in our lives that works simultaneously with the Holy Spirit to guide, correct and establish the character of Jesus Christ in our lives. The lives we live in our home, our school, our workplace, our community. Without the word of God it’s like trying to drive a car without the gas in the tank, the oil in the motor and without the windshield clear.
When Joseph had that dream recorded for us in Matthew chapter 1, the angel said to him, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” - which means, “God with us.”
Everyday, I believe we have three clear ways that God is with us. He is with us as we experience the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. His Word is accessible to us and is the foundation for all that we believe and it is a true revelation of God and applicable to each area of our life. We also have the community of believers which is designed to encourage, train, correct and love us to be more like Jesus.
God with us can be experienced in December 2006 through the many avenues that God chooses to reveal himself again and again. His word is alive and active and in this world that seems to be over active….it is the rudder that can steer your vessel through the challenges of living in our world.
As Christmas comes closer every day, today I choose, to get back into the Word of God, everyday in a deeper way. Go back to the top of this entry and read those words again... I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
It seems to me that the writer was making a commitment that was above being busy and trying to squeeze in some time for what he loved. I want to make it my goal these few remaining days of 2006 to be a man of the Word.
Join me and experience Immanuel through the written Word.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian