This is a continuation from a devotional (Hebrews 2:1-4) in A.W. Tozer's, "Experiencing the Presence of God."
Manmade Error - The message needs to be palatable
The curse of many things today is that everything has to be funny in order to be popular. You've got to be able to crack a smile, have a slight chuckle, or put an LOL after a text in order for things to get noticed and still be nice sometimes. But there wasn't anything funny about God sending his Son away from his heavenly home to be born of a virgin, nothing funny about his persecution and crucifixion. There was nothing funny about the judgment and resurrection. This next point really got me because I like to make studying the Bible more enjoyable and have fun in church. But flippancy and fun have no place when we consider the things of God. I believe that we take ourselves too seriously worrying about what to wear to church and where we sit, and don't take seriously enough the things of God.
The great goal of the Church as a whole has always been to get people to pay serious attention to spiritual matters. But too many teachers, too many preachers, too many church leaders don't expect anything great to happen, and therefore, don't have anything great happening in their church. If you don't expect results at work, in school, or in the gym, then you're probably not going to get them there either. It's hard enough to be successful, much less when you don't believe in yourself. We must have great expectation to see great results.
Until we give serious attention to the claims of Christ, to the Word of God, it's as if the Bible was never written. Tozer once wrote, "Medicine sitting on the shelf and never taken has never cured anybody. Food left in the refrigerator and never eaten has never nourished anybody. Heat not turned on has never warmed anybody. And the Bible itself, though it is nourishment, though it is light, though it is warmth, though it is medicine to the soul, yet it never help anybody where there is not serious attention given to it." If we neglect the Word, which gives us the story of Christ, He might as well have not come and died for us. For we will have wasted his coming and death.
We want people to have faith, to come to faith, to exhibit their faith. But we neglect the things that gives people faith, God's word. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" - Romans 10:17. Will you pay serious attention to God's word today? Don't let his suffering and death be wasted.
Until we give serious attention to the claims of Christ, to the Word of God, it's as if the Bible was never written. Tozer once wrote, "Medicine sitting on the shelf and never taken has never cured anybody. Food left in the refrigerator and never eaten has never nourished anybody. Heat not turned on has never warmed anybody. And the Bible itself, though it is nourishment, though it is light, though it is warmth, though it is medicine to the soul, yet it never help anybody where there is not serious attention given to it." If we neglect the Word, which gives us the story of Christ, He might as well have not come and died for us. For we will have wasted his coming and death.
We want people to have faith, to come to faith, to exhibit their faith. But we neglect the things that gives people faith, God's word. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" - Romans 10:17. Will you pay serious attention to God's word today? Don't let his suffering and death be wasted.
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