Prepare, Seek, Do, Teach
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. [Ezra 7:10]
1] Prepare our heart.
Our heart can deceive us. Before we can come to the Word of God we must prepare our hearts to be moved and spoken to by the Holy Spirit for the Bible is a spiritual Book and cannot be understood in the flesh. We must repent of sin, pray for understanding, have faith that God’s Word is true, and obey that which we already know to be right.
2] Seek the teachings of the LORD.
When our heart is right with God we can open His Word in prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us unto understanding the things of God. When we trust God’s Word to be truth and obey that which we already know to be right, the Spirit will grant us wisdom into further knowledge of the things of God. When we are given new or greater meaning into the Scriptures we must be willing to accept them as the Word of God.
3] Do what God has shown us.
If we love God and seek for His wisdom and understanding into what is right, the Spirit will give us truth that we must be willing to accept and act upon. Simply saying that something is true and that we should do it is not the same as obedience. To be obedient is to DO what we clearly see as right in Scripture and the knowledge the Spirit has given, but also to NOT DO that which we clearly see as wrong in Scripture and also that which the Spirit may have convicted us about; whether He has personally convicted others or not concerning the same issue.
4] Teach others the truth.
Not only are we to cleanse our heart, seek the things of God, and do them; we are to teach our children and others the wisdom of God found in the Scriptures. Teaching is not demanding others to “do as I say, not as I do”, but showing our lives to be a light unto those in darkness. People are to see Christ in us by our word and deed. We should happily share our testimony of the saving grace we have been given, how it is a joy to love and serve the Lord, and how exciting it is to mediate in the Scriptures and speak to the Lord in prayer.
1] Prepare our heart.
Our heart can deceive us. Before we can come to the Word of God we must prepare our hearts to be moved and spoken to by the Holy Spirit for the Bible is a spiritual Book and cannot be understood in the flesh. We must repent of sin, pray for understanding, have faith that God’s Word is true, and obey that which we already know to be right.
2] Seek the teachings of the LORD.
When our heart is right with God we can open His Word in prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us unto understanding the things of God. When we trust God’s Word to be truth and obey that which we already know to be right, the Spirit will grant us wisdom into further knowledge of the things of God. When we are given new or greater meaning into the Scriptures we must be willing to accept them as the Word of God.
3] Do what God has shown us.
If we love God and seek for His wisdom and understanding into what is right, the Spirit will give us truth that we must be willing to accept and act upon. Simply saying that something is true and that we should do it is not the same as obedience. To be obedient is to DO what we clearly see as right in Scripture and the knowledge the Spirit has given, but also to NOT DO that which we clearly see as wrong in Scripture and also that which the Spirit may have convicted us about; whether He has personally convicted others or not concerning the same issue.
4] Teach others the truth.
Not only are we to cleanse our heart, seek the things of God, and do them; we are to teach our children and others the wisdom of God found in the Scriptures. Teaching is not demanding others to “do as I say, not as I do”, but showing our lives to be a light unto those in darkness. People are to see Christ in us by our word and deed. We should happily share our testimony of the saving grace we have been given, how it is a joy to love and serve the Lord, and how exciting it is to mediate in the Scriptures and speak to the Lord in prayer.
1 comment:
So many times we try to skip that first point. It causes us to spend a lot of effort seeking w/o a focus. Preparation is key to anything we set ourselves to do for the Kingdom. If the beginning is not right, the endpoint will lack stability.
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