In my last post, I made an assumption about Christians that I have encountered in different congregations. It was this: most Jesus-followers desire to have a spiriutally vital relationship with their Lord. However, the reason that I believe that many of these Christians do not experience consitent growth and vitality is because they have not sought the right environment for it.
If a flower in your home is not properly nourished and watered and given the right amount of light, it will shrivel up and die. The flower's ability to flourish is directly related to the environment of growth that is created for it. The flower will either have an environment of growth and life and vitality or hunger and shriveling and dying in the pot.
Now I recognize that we all have various seasons of our life. However, we must be careful to look after the environment of our potential spiritual growth. So let me ask you: what is the current state of your devotional environment?
When you read in II Kings 22, the spiritual environment of Israel was rather closed off to spiritual growth. King Josiah's father and grandfather were evil kings set on displeasing God during their reigns. Scripture tells us that they did what was evil in thei sight of the Lord. That was the environment given to Josiah. However, something profound happened in Josiah's life. This "something" was directly related to his relationship to God's Word. It gives us a very good direction for how we need to look at God's Word.
It is these three things:
1 - We need to READ the Word.
2 - We need to RESPOND to the Word.
3 - We need to RENOVATE according to the Word.
I would challenge you to read in II Kings 22 - 23. See how Josiah's reading of God's Word (the law) leads to a particular response after hearing/reading the Word of God and the kind of renovation that occurs according to the Word. You should read these two chapters and be overwhelmed with the reality that the Word made a profound difference in Josiah and Israel. The Word of God transformed the spiritual environment. It all begins with the Word.
As you eat your Subway or Burger King or Peanut Butter and Jelly today, I would encourage you to do a little feasting on the Word in II Kings 22 - 23. Follow Josiah's example.
If a flower in your home is not properly nourished and watered and given the right amount of light, it will shrivel up and die. The flower's ability to flourish is directly related to the environment of growth that is created for it. The flower will either have an environment of growth and life and vitality or hunger and shriveling and dying in the pot.
Now I recognize that we all have various seasons of our life. However, we must be careful to look after the environment of our potential spiritual growth. So let me ask you: what is the current state of your devotional environment?
When you read in II Kings 22, the spiritual environment of Israel was rather closed off to spiritual growth. King Josiah's father and grandfather were evil kings set on displeasing God during their reigns. Scripture tells us that they did what was evil in thei sight of the Lord. That was the environment given to Josiah. However, something profound happened in Josiah's life. This "something" was directly related to his relationship to God's Word. It gives us a very good direction for how we need to look at God's Word.
It is these three things:
1 - We need to READ the Word.
2 - We need to RESPOND to the Word.
3 - We need to RENOVATE according to the Word.
I would challenge you to read in II Kings 22 - 23. See how Josiah's reading of God's Word (the law) leads to a particular response after hearing/reading the Word of God and the kind of renovation that occurs according to the Word. You should read these two chapters and be overwhelmed with the reality that the Word made a profound difference in Josiah and Israel. The Word of God transformed the spiritual environment. It all begins with the Word.
As you eat your Subway or Burger King or Peanut Butter and Jelly today, I would encourage you to do a little feasting on the Word in II Kings 22 - 23. Follow Josiah's example.
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