City Life Starter

Written by Nate Warren

The Word

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

Psalm 33:6,8-9 (NKJV)

Reflection

When my wife or I are trying to get my almost-two-year-old daughter dressed, she will sometimes, with a force of intention, dart from her eyes into ours, lift her finger at us and proclaim sharply, “No!” This, of course, has a profound effect on her parents. By this, we are moved to awe as our little girl finds her independence while we stifle laughs at the sheer cuteness of this tiny person throwing her weight around. She is learning the force and the limits of her word.

Your word is the expression of your intended will. When you order at a restaurant, it is by your word that someone will make it in the manner you request. By your word, funds are transferred from your bank to the restaurant, as you present your plastic card as a token of your intention.

This concept permeates the stories and wisdom of the Bible. By the third sentence on the first page, God speaks. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen 1:3). Psalm 33, as quoted above, summarizes the breadth and power of God’s Word. As God speaks, the power of His desire takes on a life of its own, causing galaxies to burst into life.

The gospel of John explicitly relates the Word of God with Jesus: “The word put on flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus is the essential Word of God, the manifest expression of Will of the Triune God.

Application

In today’s passage from John 8, Jesus invites His disciples to abide, or to remain steadfast, in His word. For us to abide in His Word is living within the limits of His purpose that have been communicated to us. Because His purpose is good, His boundaries are a pathway to boundless freedom, productivity, righteousness, justice, and joy!

By His Word, we are enabled, like the Pharisees, to tune it out. We must seek to find it through the reading and study of the scriptures, the written Word of God. We also experience it in prayer, as we stand in the presence of God and His Word is revealed personally to us through the Spirit of God. We can even see it in creation, as creation reveals God’s invisible qualities (Romans 1:18).

The question is this: Are you abiding, continually living, in the Word of God or in something else?

Prayer

Father, 

Your Word is truth. May we hang on Your every Word, meditate on it, and obey it. May it bring us to eternal life.
Amen