By Pastor Tony Guadagnino, Christian Love Fellowship Church
Soap has the power to clean you and remove dirt from your body. Inside the box or wrapper is a bar of soap that contains the chemicals needed to clean your body, but as long as they remain in their box or wrapper, they are useless. For you to release the power of the soap to clean your body, you have to actually open it and use it. God’s Word is exactly like that; you actually have to open it and use it in order for it to work.
God’s Word has the power to change and transform your life. It has the power to change your life completely, but as long as it sits unopened, that power can never be released. God’s Word is living and active and able to change your life, but in order to release the power, you need to apply it. To release the power of God’s Word, you need to open it up and read it. Even more important, you need to apply it to your life. Soap is faithful to cleanse us, just as God’s Word is faithful to cleanse us. I am so glad that God loves you and me enough not just to ask us to do the right thing, but actually to help us do the right thing.
Joshua 1:8-9
8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night, so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
9 This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
NLT
The first thing we should do with the Bible is read, study and think about It. The thing we need to do is crack open the cover. Sometimes, that’s the toughest thing to do (to actually get started). We should, according to the scripture above, study the book continuously. We should try hard to read it every day by finding a translation to read that helps us understand what it means. We need to think about what it says, and ask the question, “What does it mean for my life?” As you spend time reading the Bible, It will begin to change the way you think. As it changes the way you think, It will begin to change the things you say and do. It will help you begin to see things through God’s viewpoint and not your own.
James 1:22
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
NLT
There is more than just reading, more than just reflecting and more than just remembering the Bible — we need to put into action what we find within the pages. Like soap, the power of God’s Word is only released when we apply what we are reading. We must do what It says. If we are going to spend time reading and studying God’s Word, then it would be silly for us to not do the things we are learning. The same way soap cleans us is the same way that God’s Word will come and help us to be clean and holy.