ARE WE PEOPLE OF THE WORD?

Christians are called "the people of the Word". Yes, we must be people of the Word! We must be people who love and obey God's Word. Today, many Christians know a lot about the Scriptures, but they fall short of being doers of the Word (James 1: 22).

On this occasion of the Protestant Reformation, let us be reminded that we have a duty to know God's Word and to obey its precepts. We need to have an ever-increasing hunger for God's Word and to study it deeply and be obedient to its truth. Read the lives of all the reformers and we will see them treasuring God's Word and even sacrificing their lives for the truth. They would obey it wholeheartedly and without any complaint. Indeed God's Word is not burdensome or grievous to us (1 John 5: 3). Is that how you see God's Word today?

Live and breathe the Word of God in and through our Christian life, brethren. Let us seek to practice and obey what we have gleaned from the Bible. We are people of the Word!

One of the greatest tasks for all believers is to love one another (1 John 4: 11-12). We live among imperfect people. We ourselves are imperfect. Yet we are commanded by our Lord to love one another. Isn't this a challenge to believers? We do not exist in the church alone or with our family members only. We are all in the body of Christ and we must work hard at loving each imperfect brother or sister in Christ. It takes lots of grace to apply this lesson in loving one another.

I stress on this topic of love because this is a crucial mark of a true believer in Jesus Christ. (Look at I John 2: 10-11; 1 John 3: 14-15; John 13: 34-35). The child of God is a forgiver and a lover of the brethren. If we can't do that we will not be forgiven by the Lord Himself (Matt. 6: 14-15). This is true Christianity if we have love for one another. The church needs this reminder constantly. We need to look at ourselves and see if we have this problem in our lives. Who do we despise or hate? Who is our "enemy"? Who is the person I am at odds with? Would you do something about it and get right with the Lord and the person?

We must be people of the Word. We do not say we are one, but we live it out as one.

"Thy word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Ps. 119: 11)

Pastor