Apply the Word

I am very blessed to be a member of a great, Bible teaching church. My pastor is gifted at delivering his messages beautifully. I have heard sermon after sermon, cried, clapped, shouted, "Amen!" yet have I changed?

Today my prof said something very illuminating, "There is nothing the human heart resists more than change, yet Christ calls me to conform (change) to His image." Why are we not changing? I believe many like myself are under good teaching of the Word, but not in the Word for themselves.

In my Bible Study Methods & Hermeneutics class, I have learned that there are three steps in effective Bible study: 1)Observation 2)Interpretation and 3)Application. Many of us spend most of our time interpreting the scriptures without much attention to the third and most important step, application of the scriptures. My prof, Howard Hendricks says it best, "Observation + Interpretation - application = abortion." There is no life when this occurs.

This was so convicting for me. The Lord convicted me that it is not enough to be able to know the scriptures, recite the scriptures, but to LIVE the scriptures out in my daily life. I encourage all of us to ask ourselves, "Am I being transformed into the image of Christ by my personal study time in the Word?"

I learned today that there are many values I hold that are more ideal in my life versus real in my life. We are all a work in progress, but I want to wear what I believe to be truth, not just talk or ponder about it. One of the last comments prof made today in class was, "Conviction by truth is not the same as being changed by truth." Wow...

Every time I walk through campus I go by a statue in the center that says, "Preach the Word." Today after class I thought to myself how much more we need to "Apply the Word."