In Christ: Know It, Live It - 35 (Know, Love, Do - 2)

We are meant to live a balanced life of KNOWING DOCTRINE and DOING DOCTRINE: knowing the truth and obeying the truth, doctrine and devotion. But HOW does doctrine become God-pleasing, joyful doing? How do we experience the life of following Jesus that He said is "...easy...and light" (Matthew 11:30)?

Jonathan Edwards used a picture to explain this process. He used the analogy of wood and a fireplace. If wood is doctrine, what is the spark, the fire, that causes the wood (doctrine) to be set ablaze so that it is useful for giving off warmth, light, and being used for cooking, etc.? That is, what turns doctrine into something active and useful...into passionate obedience? The answer, according to Edwards, is the work of the Holy Spirit igniting the heart with LOVE for the WORD OF GOD, for GOD through the WORD.

The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and makes it exceedingly precious to our hearts. So precious that we cry out like the Psalmist, "Oh, how I love Your law. It is my meditation all the day" Psalm 119:97. When doctrine is set ablaze by the Spirit like this, obedience is the NECESSARY expression of the love for God and His truth that fills our hearts. But how does the Spirit set on fire biblical truth in our hearts? I would mention 2 things:

• Note the words of the Pslamist in the verse above..."...It is MY MEDITATION all the day." It is as we think deeply and often on the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit does this igniting work in our hearts. To meditate is to CHEW MENTALLY on the Scriptures, interacting with God over His Word with questions and praise and thanks and hard mental effort. "Father, what does this mean? Father, thank You for....! Father, help me to follow Paul's train of thought here. Father, how do I put this into practice in MY marriage? Father, HOW could it be that you would love me like this?" and so on.
• This meditation and soul-supping on the Word must be with the intention of OBEYING what our Father says. The way to joyful, soul-blazing love for the Word of God is NOT to wait to OBEY until there is this passion for God and His truth, but to OBEY because it is the right thing and because it is the CHANNEL through which the Spirit brings ignition.

Meditate deeply, interacting with God over His Word throughout the day, and interact with a desire to obey, and ASK the Spirit of God to ignite your heart for the Word and the God of the Word, and HE WILL be faithful to set the wood of doctrine on fire in the hearth of your heart so that your obedience is the expression of genuine joy.