Sweeter Than Honey: Enjoying God in His WordSample

Grow in Godliness

Honey is a treat for us, but it’s life-giving sustenance for a bee. Once created, it’s stored in the comb and doesn’t spoil. The Bible holds unchanging truths that will never spoil either. When we have diligently gathered knowledge and digested the big ideas about a passage, we have found a drop of honey that will nourish our souls and produce growth in our lives.

Did you know that a bee’s type is determined by its diet? The queen bee is fed a special substance called royal jelly her whole life, while worker bees are fed royal jelly as babies and then switch to a diet of strictly honey and pollen. What the bees consume actually dictates what they become. The same is true for us. When we consume worldly wisdom on the internet or surround ourselves with foolish friends, we will grow more obsessed with the good gifts and the sinful lures of this world. Neither will lead to godliness. But when we consume the life-changing sustenance of God’s Word, we become more like our Savior. When God speaks to us through his unchanging Word, it changes us.

In How to Read the Bible in Changing Times, professor Mark L. Strauss says, “The Christian life involves not just knowing the Bible’s teaching or obeying its commands but walking so close to and so far with God that in each new situation we can identify the heart of God (1 Cor. 2:13-16).”1 When we have carefully gathered knowledge about the passage we’re studying and digested its big ideas, we grow our knowledge of and love for God. He chose to reveal himself through Jesus and through the Bible, so we must pay close attention to God’s Word if we want to grow into wise people who can discern God’s heart in whatever circumstances we face. Strauss also warns against letting our study of God’s Word just be purely academic. It must intersect with our lives and impact our hearts. We start by grasping what the passage meant to the original audience in their time and place, “but listening also means hearing what God is saying to us in our time and place. This must not be just a cognitive exercise; like our love for God, it involves heart, mind, soul, and strength.”2

God’s Word is living and active. When you respond to God’s Word, you will be changed by it. You become like the people you spend time with, so spend time with Jesus. Studying your Bible builds a relationship with God that causes you to become more like him as you walk in his glorious, perfect presence.

1. Mark L. Strauss, How to Read the Bible in Changing Times (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 78.

2. Strauss, 102.