For the word of God [is] living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Ah, The Word of God… How amazing is our God that He has given His living, written Word that we can look to for all things? I truly lack the communication skills to be able to describe just how  it is that God has given men His Word. His Word that speaks simple, plain, and consistent truth regarding the most important facets of life, yet also speaks to individual hearts through the same medium… Just amazing. Over the course of my day today I have gone from an over-anxious heap of a man who was seemingly wound waaaaaaaaay too tight, to basking in the love and faithfulness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the reason for the calm, settling of my soul is the Word of God. The love of Christ, and the promise of His faithfulness are the only things that can truly calm a man’s spirit.

In Zephaniah 3:17, the prophet Zephaniah is comforting the Israelites after proclaiming God’s judgements on their grotesque sin by reminding them that God is faithful, and will not utterly forsake them. One of things he tells this Israelite is,

“He will quiet you with His love”

I can barely write that without tearing up. Although, this was a distinct promise to the people of Israel, this also applies generally to all people of God. That no matter what we are going through in life if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. He will quiet His people with His love… all I can say is thank you.

Now, back to the living and powerful Word of God, and how that correlates to my roller-coaster of a day. Let me recap the beginning of my day in hope of giving a clear illustration of the Word of God being truly alive: I woke up late absolutely dreading the sound of my alarm clock at 5:30, I finally rolled out of bed at approx 6:15 ( or about 15 minutes before I am usually at Tuesday morning prayer), and I had run out of coffee at my house so I had to go out for coffee. All of which caused me to completely skip my Bible time this morning… that is extremely rare for me. I cannot remember the last time I didn’t at least read a psalm before starting my day. So, I went to prayer and had a blessed time with my brothers. Then, I went to work and proceeded to allow my mind to run wild down every avenue of life that a trusting heart in Jesus has no business venturing upon. This continued throughout the day untill I came home, did a couple of errands, and perused the internet aimlessly. Finally, I came to the moment where I KNEW there was no good reason why I should be catching up on my Bible reading for the day, but I almost felt paralyzed by thought of trying to quiet and focus my mind on the Word of God. I then forced myself to sit down, prayed for help, and opened up the Word (Glory to God for His Spirit dwelling inside of me, otherwise I never would have had the discipline to get this far). As soon, as I started reading Psalm 108 it was like an enormous weight was lifted.

All of the sudden, I went from being completely overwhelmed by the cares of the world to being a child safely remembering a perfect Father’s promise of love and care. I was reading through the Psalm and seeing the psalmist give glory and praise to God, and I was reminded of how awesome my Father in heaven is, and I remembered that I had nothing to worry about it. That all I needed was to do was abide in the True Vine, and press into the love my God has for me. As I continued, I came to the spot I left off in my Old Testament reading the day before: Zephaniah 3.

I read that God will quiet you with His love, and that was exactly what God was doing to me. It was as if God wrote those words just for me just for that very moment. As if He knew this day would come, and before the beginning of time He had planned for me to come upon this promise just so that I could be comforted by His love for me, and reminded of the truth. My question for you is: How many other people do you think have been comforted by this verse in the past 2000 years? I’m going to venture a guess of thousands, if not millions. So you see, the Word of God is alive, it is powerful, and it will cut to the hearts and to the souls of individual people in a perfect way. It will speak straight to the heart of whoever is willing to sit down and give even the smallest amount of time to read God’s words and hear His voice.

What a lesson and what a reminder of one of the most obvious (to the point of embarrassment) truths in the life of a Christian. That we need to prioritize time spent with the Lord Jesus above all things in life. Prioritize time spent in the Word of God. Prioritize time spent in prayer. Prioritize time in fellowship with other believers. Stay steadfast in the Apostle’s doctrine, in prayer, in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread (Acts 4:42). As Jesus corrected Martha who was complaining that her sister was not helping with all serving in Luke 10:

³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”   
⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Let the fact that although we have day-to-day responsibilities that must be dealt with, the absolute best place to be is at the feet of Jesus hearing His voice and being in His presence. This is the most important THING. -Cory