When God Speaks ...Continued from page 1

If we want to hear God’s voice, we need to read His Word like a love letter?not just study it systematically to get through our daily devotions. There may be times when we read the Bible out of obligation, but if you are really seeking the heart behind the words, the sense of obligation vanishes and the joy of relationship begins. You’ll recognize His Word as a note of love from a God who wants to draw you closer.

The Instruction Manual
I have a friend who used to let me borrow his mountain home on occasion. With a large window overlooking a beautiful lake, it was the greatest place in the world to get refreshed. The only problem is that the home was built in stages on three or four different levels, and to turn on the water you practically needed a Ph.D.

There was an instruction sheet on the refrigerator for visitors to turn on the water. I normally don’t read directions?I don’t even like them?but I had to follow these to the letter. If you don’t have water, you can’t cook, eat, use the bathroom, do the laundry, and a whole lot of other important things. These instructions were not exciting reading, but they were necessary.

The Bible is an instruction manual on how to live. It isn’t always going to give us warm emotions and teary eyes, and there won’t always be a special verse jumping out at us. But 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that it is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” If we want to know what’s true and how life works, the Scriptures will teach us. God will show what’s right about our life and what needs correcting. He will give us direction and set us on the right path. He will guide us in how to mend that broken relationship or how to make things go right at work. The Bible is the comprehensive equipment for the servant of God, and it equips us fully for all kinds of work.

In order to get the benefit of the instruction manual, we need to read it?to have a plan and be systematic about it. And we should do it over and over, because while the Bible never changes, we do. Different parts of the Word will instruct us over different seasons of our lives. We should read it regularly.

The Road Map
I went to Phoenix to look at a college with one of my sons, and found the city fascinating: All the streets go in one direction and all the avenues in another. It’s supposed to be very easy to get around. But my method for getting around is a lot like the way many people approach their Christian life: They go from gas station to gas station asking for directions. Instead of getting the map, they ask one person who happens to be a Christian and then another, until they have all the advice they need to make a decision. The problem is that they are putting their destiny in the hands of other people with different experiences.

There’s nothing wrong with good counsel, but it should come in the context of a personal relationship with God and His Word. We need the road map. When I finally bought a road map of Phoenix, everything became clear.