Are you just beginning to think about what you will preach next week? Are you already deep in thought and study for next Sunday’s sermon? Or, maybe you are still catching your breath from an overwhelming Lord’s Day that just ended?
May I offer you a challenge before you quit thinking about the last sermon and get too deep into the next one? Will you at least consider this thought on Monday?
Allow your wonderful study of the Word of God to make a difference in your life. Let the words that you study wash over your heart and change you before you stand in front of the people of God to encourage them to change.
Please, don’t just study for the sake of information. Oh, yes, we need the information. The information is crucial to the proclamation. However, if we just pour information into our mind without allowing it to affect our heart, we can become dry talkers!
Please, don’t just study to make sure you have the correct arguments. Of course, to be sure we must present sound argumentation in our sermons. However, if what we study doesn’t get into our hearts and change us, it is possible that we become just good arguers.
May our God help us not to be men who only have information and arguments. May He help us to be men who are filled with His goodness, His love, His purpose, and His power. As we do His work, may His Word overflow from a heart that is captivated, changed, and completely given over to Him. May we live with, love, and long for Him as we seek to bring His life-changing Gospel to those who desperately need it.
As we spend time with the Word of God this week, may it forever change us!
