I remember a story one of my professors told us during my college days. A missionary went to a remote village that had never heard the gospel message of Jesus before. They didn’t know what to expect but to their joy, the village welcomed them with open arms and were eager to hear what they had to say.
The missionary started in Genesis, and day by day, story by story, shared the entire Bible with the people. At one point a woman in the village went into labor. When the time came for the missionary to share another story from the Bible the villagers set up a tent near the group so the woman, even though she was in labor, could hear the story of the day. I think of that story every time I read the passage in Acts chapter 2 where Luke describes the early church as DEVOTED to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. I wonder, if Luke saw Kalkaska Church of Christ today, would he describe us the same way? I would hope so.
That village was so hungry to hear the stories of the bible; not even labor could keep them from hearing God’s word. That is an incredible devotion to the word. I believe the church in America needs to reignite the fire of desire inside us for the word. We need to be hungry, starving for it. we need to build our lives on it and around it. God’s word must drive everything we say, think, and do. Our entire lives need to be built on it. I love the lyrics to the song Firm Foundation: “Christ is my firm foundation. The rock on which I stand. When everything around me is shaken, I’ve never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus ‘cause He’s never let me down.”
There are so many things out there that influence our thinking. If we’re not solid in our knowledge of God’s word then we will be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” as outlined in Ephesians 4:14. We need to know what the Bible says, not just about the big topics like abortion, sex, marriage, heaven, hell, but also the general life stuff such as comfort, hospitality, raising children, money. Every aspect of our lives needs to be built on God’s word without outside influences. We can only do that if we know God’s word, and the only way to do that is to be devoted.