Hearing His Voice #197

The word of God is alive and powerful.

Hebrews 4:12

God breathed His words through human beings. That’s what inspired means: “breathed into.” So the Bible is a mysterious mix of the divine and human, with the divine guiding the thoughts and expressions of humans who encountered Him and spoke and wrote what they experienced and learned. When the Word was written, it was under the specific guidance and supervision of the Holy Spirit.

The Word is also inspired when it is read and heard today. The Spirit’s activity didn’t end once the words were on ancient scrolls. He is working even now, causing specific messages to jump off the page into our hearts, provoking our minds to encounter truth and wrestle with it, encouraging our hearts to believe and grow, and imparting truth and wisdom into our spirits. Yes, it’s possible to read Scripture purely from the mind, with human thoughts and skepticism and motives filtering the words to the point that they have little power. But when our spirits are open, the voice in the Word comes alive. Scripture still speaks.

We often strain to hear God’s voice while our Bibles lie smoldering on the shelf, waiting to breathe God’s words into us. And though He speaks through a multitude of messengers, we hear best when Scripture is an integral part of our hearing process. The Word is the necessary context for all other hearing. When we forget that, we’re likely to get skewed messages from spurious sources. But when we feed on the Bible—which is still very much alive and powerful—the voice of God simmers and stirs within us. He fills us with truth.

Don’t just read the Bible. Saturate yourself with it. Savor it. Let it shape your heart, your mind, and your spirit. When you do, it will open your ears.

Holy Spirit, breathe Your words into me. Don’t just teach me Your truth; fill me with it. Let it shape me in every way so I can hear Your voice in it, through it, and by the light of it.