How to Know God's Will and Follow ItSample

Believe God’s Word Before You Open God’s Word

“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)

You may not always understand what the Bible says. But to anchor your life on the solid foundation of God’s Word, you need to humbly accept whatever God tells you.

James 1:21 says, “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” (NLT). The word translated “accept” is a hospitality term. It means to receive like a stranger.

You are to receive God’s Word fully into your life. That means before you even open your Bible, you tell God that you accept whatever He tells you. You agree to believe His Word, whether or not you understand it. You trust Him.

But in order to accept God’s Word, you first have to take care of the “filth and evil” stuff in your life. You clean it out! Now, this doesn’t mean you need to clean up your life before you can come to God. Instead, it means sin can block you from hearing God. You can’t hear Him when you’ve got something else filling your mind and heart.

You’ve got to make space for the truth. Then, believing and applying God’s truth will change you and make you more like Jesus.

In the Bible, God often compares our accepting His Word to gardening. He wants us to accept the seeds He is planting in our hearts and minds. But before the seeding and the feeding comes the weeding. Before you meet with God, you have to take out the emotional and spiritual garbage in your life.

How do you do that? You confess and turn away from your sins. You admit to God what you’ve done that goes against His Word. You ask Him for forgiveness and thank Him in advance for how He is working in your life.

When you confess and accept and trust God’s Word, He can produce understanding
of the truth and the fruit of obedience in your life.

This devotional © 2024 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.