By Emeritus Prof. Mercy Olumide

The principal way God speaks to us (Cont)
He has not simply spoken once through His Word, the Bible, but speaks through it still “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (Jn 6:63)

The Holy Spirit reveals truth to us, lives within us, and then enables us to respond to that truth.

Your eyes must turn into ears

There is need to use our ears as well as our eyes
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it.” (Rev 1:3)

We should not only read Scripture, we should listen to it also. In other words, not just reading the word of God but listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit, which speaks to us through that word. It is not enough to read; we must learn to listen.

Read 2Chron 34:14-33, The Book of the Law is found.

What was the effect when God’s Word was read out?

It led to ‘godly sorrow’ (2Cor 7:10) genuine repentance
“Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the King [Josiah].19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.” (2Chro 34:18,19)

It is human nature to treat sin lightly–to make excuses, blame somebody else, or minimise the harm done. Not so with Josiah. He was so appalled at the people’s neglect of the law that he tore his clothing to express his grief. True understanding of our sins should lead to “godly sorrow” that “produces repentance leading to salvation” (2Corinthians 7:10). Are you always excusing your sin, blaming others, and pretending that it’s not so bad? God does not take sin lightly, and he wants us to respond with true remorse as Josiah did.

“Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.” (2Chro 34:31)

When Josiah read the book that Hilkiah discovered (34:14), he responded with repentance and humility and promised to follow God’s commands as written in the book. The Bible is God’s word to us, “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12); but we cannot know what God wants us to do if we do not read it. And even reading God’s Word is not enough; we must be willing to do what it says. There is not much difference between the book hidden in the temple and the Bible hidden on the bookshelf.

An unread Bible is as useless as a lost one.

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