PURITY OF THE WORD

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Psalm 119:105

I don’t know if you have ever had a chance to watch the show, 7th Street Theater, but it has become one of those shows that I try to catch as often as possible. The basic concept behind the show is group of theatre actors who work on sketches throughout the week to perform at their Friday night performance. Mixed in with the performance rehearsals are practical life and Bible lessons. It was an episode I watched about a year back that really spoke to me, though.
The performance was set to show the importance of reading the Bible. In one sketch, the performer was playing a coach whose starting quarterback had just gotten injured. He was about to send in the backup quarterback only to learn that the backup had not been reading the playbook. With one injured QB, and another not knowing the plays, the coach was left to forfeit the remainder of the game. The connection was made in showing how God’s Word is the playbook. If we, the team, are not familiar with the plays, how can we expect to be put in the game? How can we expect to win? We must read His word daily.
Another one of the sketches was centered around Psalm 119:105. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” As the group was heading out for lunch, they turned out the light and headed out the door. However, they could not lock the door because they had forgotten the keys inside the building. One of the actors went in but couldn’t see his way around. He called out for one the other actors to flip on the lights, but for some reason the light wouldn’t come on. Maybe it was a burnt bulb or a connection problem, but it pointed out another truth concerning God’s word. Without knowing what God’s word says, we are walking around blind, in the dark. God’s word is more than a flashlight. It is a floodlight. It lights the path we are to take, guiding us, directing us, correcting us even. So for us to push this light to the side because we are ‘too busy’ or ‘not in the mood’ only places us back in the dark.
As I prepare to close today, I want to share with you not only one of the other sketches that caught my attention, but something God has been sharing with me recently. I have for sometime been dealing with a pestering emotion. It wears me out daily. A few nights back I was lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling, praying that God would help me. I asked specifically how I was to overcome this issue. The response I heard seemed too simple. “Read My word. If you want victory, then read My word.”
I could write out for you all the reasons and benefits as to why we should dive into God’s word, but something tells me you already know this. But what struck me hardest in watching this episode was the final sketch. The minister introduced the missionary to speak, giving him the pulpit and as much time as he needed. This missionary arose, went to stand at the pulpit, read his text and then sat down. Perplexed, the pastor again introduced him a second time, but the missionary stayed seated. A third time he was introduced, and this time he again got up and came before the church. His words hit me. “The purity of God’s word doesn’t need my commentary, or anyone else’s. Yet too many times we look to the pastor to explain God’s word instead of going to God Himself.”
I have been writing these devotionals for years now, but I fear that maybe I have become a replacement to some of you for what only God should be. In hearing God speak to me about reading His word, I was convicted. I spend more time listening to others talk about God than I do reading God’s word myself. And there is nothing wrong with ministers or television evangelists; please don’t read that wrong. But if they are becoming our god, then we are in error. The Israelites did everything through Moses when they came out of Egypt, when all along God wanted a personal relationship with each one of them. Have we become the same? Have we been spending more time getting our answers through Moses than through God? Perhaps we need to get back into God’s word, read it for ourselves, question it for ourselves, and find the purity of God’s word again for ourselves.