Lesson Twenty-Two

HOW TO CONTACT THE LORD

BY READING THE BIBLE (1)

Burden to Impart:

Having been born again, our inner man needs to [grow and mature. This growth takes place as we feed upon God's Word. We will grow into God's salvation by nourishing ourselves spiritually with God's Word as we read the Bible each day (1 Pet. 2:2). We should not ignore our spirit's longing by substituting other, perhaps more "exciting," things for God's Word. Rather, we should be clear that our first and foremost need each day is to feed upon God's Word.

Facts to Teach:

1. The two great treasures that the Lord has given to His children are His Holy Spirit and His Holy Word. Once we have believed in the Lord Jesus and have been baptized we are born again and indwelt by His Holy Spirit (John 1:12; 3:5; 7:39).
2. By being born again a new life is conceived in our spirit; this is the beginning of our "inner man" (Eph. 3:16). Although Christ does dwell in our spirit when we are young Christians, He still needs to grow and be formed in us (Gal. 4:19) so that we can become mature. He grows through the nourishment of the Word of God. The most important factor in Our growth is the food we eat. Some tribes of people are very short (like the pygmies) and some are very tall. This is related to their diet. We are what we eat.
3. As "newborn babes" in Christ, we should "long for the guileless [pure] milk of the Word" of God (1 Pet. 2:2). Every babe cries out for milk. No one taught it to do so, its nature and stomach teaches it. We also, as God's children, have a longing desire in our spirit to feed upon His Word so that we may grow. Our inner man does not want to remain as a babe forever, it longs to mature and grow fully into God's salvation.
4. It is easy to ignore the yearning cry of the babe in our spirit. After a while we may not even realize that our inner man is hungry. We often distract ourselves with other things that seem more important or exciting than feeding our inner man, like reading, watching T.V., playing, etc. Although we may consciously forget the need of our inner man, still he is unsatisfied, yearning for some spiritual nourishment from God's Word.
5. If we will set aside some time each day for reading God's Word in the Bible we will develop a taste for it. Through the reading of God's Word we sense that we can actually "taste" the Lord (1 Pet. 2:2; Psa. 34:8). We will eventually proclaim as King David did in the Psalms, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Psa. 119:103). We will come to value God's Word more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold (Psa. 19:10).