Another Drive-By?

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. (James 1:21 NLT)

How do we rid ourselves of the 'filth and evil' in our lives? If we want to really allow God to begin this work within us, we begin to take in his Word on a regular basis - not just as reading material, but with time to really 'digest it' and allow him to speak to us through what we are reading. The 'planting' of his Word isn't a 'top sowing' - it is a purposeful sowing of the seeds of change in prepared soil. The time we take to allow our hearts to be prepared to receive his Word - like time in praise and worship - the more we will find the soil of our hearts is prepared to receive those 'seeds' he plants. The seed that is planted is the only seed that grows - maturity takes tending.

We aren't going to 'ingest' his Word in huge chunks and think that it will impact our lives dramatically. I did a 'read through the Bible' in a year study one time and found it difficult to keep up with the reading required. It was like a marathon, not a gentle jog. I didn't get all that much out of it other than an overview of the books. While it wasn't 'wasted time', it didn't yield the same beneficial nourishment of my soul that I get when I allow God to take me to a passage each day and then ruminate on it for a bit. The difference was in the 'rumination' - that deep thinking that occurs when you have a chance to mull that passage over and over again is important to our 'grasping' the seed and allowing it to fall deep within the soil of our hearts.

I can wash my hands with a bit of clear water and dry them on a towel. I can also wash them with an antibacterial soap, allowing brisk water to run over them, and then towel them dry. Which one do you think removes the most 'filth' from my hands? That one is a no-brainer, I know, but if we just allow God's Word to 'trickle' over our lives, are we really allowing the cleansing he desires and we so desperately require? Not likely. We might feel a little 'cleaner', but the 'filth' is likely still there! We didn't allow the conviction to come - the 'scrubbing' effect. We need both the overflow of his grace and goodness, but we also need the 'cleansing' of the Holy Spirit's conviction. 

Humbly accept the Word of God that he plants. This is the beginning of change and restoration. We don't get the same benefit from a 'drive by' devotional time. By that I mean those times when we take out the half-page a day devotional that reads in under a minute and then we go our merry way. Those are good devotionals, but they are meant to be seed thoughts that help us to ruminate on his Word. To not take the time to focus on what the passage says, how it can apply to your life, what change God may be seeking within us, they are nothing short of 'drive-by' in their effectiveness. Just sayin!