May 19

Luke 10:27
Memorise Psalm 119:34
“Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law…”

The lawyer in this account sounds very much like many of us. He knows all the right answers, and can quote whole chunks of the Bible like a breeze! This is his reply to Jesus when questioned about the law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Notice what Jesus said in reply? “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

Now stop – and think! If you were the lawyer, how would you go on? How do you apply the verse to yourself? You have quoted the verse (“thou shalt love the Lord thy God…”), but can you apply it to yourself? The lawyer obviously ignored Jesus’ exhortation, but instead continued to try to challenge Jesus. For him, it was but an intellectual debate, and he had no interest in applying what he had just learnt.

How about for us? Why do we spend so much time trying to understand the Bible? When we understand passages, and think of the applications, we must always follow up with a true sincere desire to do all that God’s Word instructs us to. Yet in doing that, we also realise that as much as we can try to apply it by ourselves, we can’t! We’d just kneel down to Jesus and say, “Lord, I don’t love God with even half my heart… soul… strength… mind, and I can’t! – unless You help me through Your Holy Spirit”!

The question today is “what must I bear in mind in application?” I think the most important thing to bear in mind is that we must not just say, but do! Yet realise that we are unable to apply any of these lessons in our lives unless we are given the strength by the Holy Spirit. It is us working in conjunction with God - we desire to obey, and the Holy Spirit gives us the strength and resolve to be able to do so.

There’s no point understanding the Bible “intellectually” without applying the lessons to our own lives.

Thought: Thank God for good pastors/teachers who help us to understand the Word of God, and teach us how to apply it to our lives!
Prayer: Lord, help me not only to memorise Bible verses, but to understand them and work in my heart and soul so that I will love You more in spirit and in truth.