The Word Is Our FoundationSample

The Bible: Wisdom for Life

If you’ve had a bit to do with the Bible before now, you might have come across some of the instructions and commandments that are in it. It can read like a huge list of rules, making us imagine God is a referee hell-bent on enforcing the regulations. But as we step back and look at the Bible, we start to see that it reads more like a coaching manual than a rule book. God wants the very best for us, so he spends lots of time explaining how to live in a wise and godly way. Sure, some of the things in the Bible are full-on and remind us that God takes sin and selfishness more seriously than we do. But we mustn’t lose sight of the reason God is so blunt – He knows what’s best for us and wants what’s best for us.

When we look at our own lives, our world often doesn’t look like the perfect creation that God originally designed. So it’s no surprise that much of the Bible is a story of how God invests himself into fixing the problem of what’s broken in the human heart. All the rules and guidelines are designed to coach God’s people on how to live in a world that has forgotten God’s design and purpose. It’s really all about learning to trust Him again.

So when God is speaking to us, one of the things that He wants to do is to help us understand what is messed up in this world and in us. The Bible is full of great advice for how to live in the middle of a broken world, as broken people, and still, discover the love of God – a love that gives life and hope. Much of what God has to say is focused on making wise decisions and learning to live to trust that He is bigger than our circumstances, doubts, and fears.

Feeding Our Souls

This is why the prophet Isaiah vividly describes how listening to God’s Word is like eating at a free buffet. Isaiah wanted God’s people to understand that the Bible is actually an invitation from God to feed our souls. Like the ancient Israelites, we get distracted and end up trying to find comfort and satisfaction in this world's empty ideas and promises. But this life can’t satisfy our souls; we were made to draw our strength and vitality from God Himself. And when I read God’s Word, that’s what is happening - my soul is being fed and healed, strengthened and sustained.

Isaiah tells us that we are always being changed by God’s Word because the Word of God never fails; it always achieves what God wants it to. So as I listen to His Word, I am being transformed by the truth and light that it brings. The world around us is constantly promising to meet our needs, but it’s actually in God’s Word that we discover satisfaction, success, and security.

In today’s world, we tend to value entertaining and popular things. So sometimes, our experience of reading the Bible can be quite negative. It can feel boring, or it might be difficult to understand what the Bible is actually saying. But be confident; God uses His Word to bring life to our souls. Reading and engaging with God’s gift is worth the time and effort because God’s Word ‘always produces fruit’.

As we let the Bible shape and grow us, we discover more wisdom for life. We learn to trust that God's plan is good and that He knows exactly what we need to make great choices, faith-filled choices.

Reflection Questions:

1. How much of an appetite do I have for God’s Word?
2. What are the main things that I ‘feed’ on that don’t satisfy or bring life?
3. The Word of God is powerful. So what can I do to ‘feed’ on it more?