God Talking

Photo by: Arvind Balaraman

Many of us read our Bibles daily or very often. We know the Bible is the living Word of God. We appreciate that fact, and we rejoice when we read something we can carry with us all through the day.

My husband and I recently visited some dear friends. We had devotions with them before retiring for the night. Our host said something like this: “We know that the Bible is God’s Word. We know it was written straight from God’s mouth. Imagine that it is not only God’s Word, but that it is God talking in the present. God is speaking to us, now.”* Then he read Daily Light on the Daily Path’s reading for the evening. We read through the same Bible passages twice, followed by a period of prayer. It was precious!

And, you know what? Two of the Scriptures from that reading stuck in my head. I thought about them over and over.

God wants us to repeatedly think about His Word. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:2). The word used for meditate is “ruminate,” what cows do with their food—chewing it over and over again. We can help ourselves to repeatedly consider what we’ve read when we consciously think about the Bible as God actively talking to us.

God is talking. Now.

Let’s read a couple of Scriptures that teach this:

• For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
• All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

In the Psalms, we read a very intimate relationship between the psalmists and the Lord. The phrase “teach me” is addressed directly to the Lord fourteen times. Here’s one example: Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments (Psalm 119:108).

We speak to God in prayer and He speaks to us through His Word. His Word is ministering to us, actually speaking to us when we read it. The Bible is never old, never past-tense. It is always present.

It’s God actively speaking to you!

The next time you open your Bible, listen to God speaking directly to you. Think about what He’s saying.

It will aid your meditation and retention, and it will minister to your soul.

God is talking.

* Thank you, Bob, for reminding us of this truth!