When the Word Moves in and Starts Rearranging Things

Well, glory be, friend, push open that ol’ back screen door and come on over here so you can be sittin’ where the evenin’ breeze is sneakin’ through the honeysuckle vines. There’s a lil’ ol’ blue jay hollerin’ from the clothesline like somebody owes it some serious rent, and a lil’ box turtle is crossin’ the yard with all the urgency of a church committee decidin’ where to put the coffeepot. While they’re carryin’ on, let me ask you something right here.

Are you hearin’ God’s Word or are you just receivin’ it?

There’s a big ol’ heap of difference there, you know.

You can plum hear a sermon on Sunday morni’g and then forget it before the fried chicken reaches the table. You can read three chapters of Scripture while your mind plum wanders through six counties and tomorrow’s grocery list.

But receivin’ the Word means sho’-nuff’ openin’ the door and lettin’ it come all the way inside.

That there’s what Paul celebrated about the Thessalonian church congregation. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 says, “When you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it... as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” That there plum means that they welcomed his message not merely as human words but as God’s Word that was actively working within them.

God’s Word don’t come merely to be tryin’ to decorate our thinkin’. It downright comes to be renovatin’ our living.

Hebrews 4:12 says God’s Word is “living and powerful.” Living things grow, move, and produce change. Scripture starts pokin’ around those dusty corners where pride, worry, resentment, and stubbornness have been nestin’ like an o’ weasel in the corncrib.

And James 1:21 tells us to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Did you catch that?

Receive it.

Don’t be leavin’ God’s truth sittin’ on the porch like an unopened package. Let it come on inside. You gotta be lettin’ it question you, comfort you, correct you, and change you.

Father, give me a heart that receives Your Word instead of merely hearing it. Let Your truth settle deeply into me and change the way I think, speak, choose, forgive, and live. Pull up anything in me that resists You and grow something holy in its place. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now swing that ol’ screen door wide open and carry God’s truth right back with you into your day, friend. An ol’ woodchuck can stare at a vegetable garden all afternoon and never taste a juicy tomato. A lil’ ol’ rooster can stand beside the feed trough and still go hungry if it won’t git to peckin’ its food. Don’t just be admirin’ the Bible from across the yard. You’ve gotta be openin’ it up, receivin’ it, and lettin’ God’s Word turn today’s ordinary ol’ dirt into fertile ground where somethin’ eternal can git to growin’.

With joy,

Gwen