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Word of God

Subhead
Built on a Rock
By
Laura Phillips, Palisade Lutheran/First Lutheran, Valley Springs, South Dakota

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3
This can be a picture of our lives as Christians. We need the “water” of God’s word for our lives to be fruitful. Today I commend to you the word of God —the hearing of it, the reading of it and your living from it: The word of God preached and taught at your church home, the word of God read and meditated on in your devotional time or in a Bible study. If your Christian life has “dried out,” this is the way to be nourished and refreshed once again. This is the way for you to be “like trees planted by streams of water.”
Now if I’m completely honest, there are times when I don’t delight in God’s word. I get distracted, busy with life. When I think like this, I know it is my sinful-self talking. If I listen to that sinful voice then my life will suffer, I will not bear good fruit, and those around me will suffer too. We dry up spiritually without hearing and being in God’s word.
Yet the streams of living water are readily available, always flowing, and we are made to soak them up! As children of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, we are new creations drawn to the word of God, delighting in it! Just as a stream supplies the tree with nourishing and refreshing moisture, so does God’s word supply you with nourishment and refreshment. When supplied with steady streams of the Word of Life, your faith will grow and good works will come naturally to you. After all, a good tree bears good fruit.
It is in “the law of the LORD,” the True Word, the Living God, that you are blessed. Therefore, as Martin Luther explains in his Small Catechism, “hold God’s word sacred, and gladly hear and learn it”: within the church service, in the preaching of the word, in Bible study or Sunday School, and in your personal devotions. Delight in and meditate on this word, day and night. Well supplied by the life-giving Word of God, you will indeed bear the fruits of faith and be “like trees planted by streams of water.”

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