God's Word!! It's everything for the believer's success here on earth. And when I say, "success", I'm not talking about man's idea of success, but God's mandate for success: His Glory. His will be done. His Kingdom come. On Earth, just like heaven. However, five minutes on earth gives evidence that each generation of believers has work to do.
God's word, as I've written in blogs past, is a treasure beyond measure. And if as a believer, you have not experienced this, you are not reading it. I have a growing grief as I watch the lives of believers who are not taking full advantage of this treasure. And it becomes evident in their lifestyles, as their problems multiply to their distress. And rather than growing to maturity and being a strength to other Christians, they stay babes, dependent on a burdened leadership in the church.
As Jesus talked privately to His disciples about end times, and the day and hour, He referenced Noah in Matthew 24:36-39. "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark" and did not know the time until the flood came and took them all away. In John MacArthur's study notes for this passage, it says: "Jesus emphasis here is not so much on the extreme wickedness of Noah's day, but on the people's preoccupation with mundane matters of everyday life." They "were swept away unexpectedly in the midst of their daily activities."
We have, as believers, a great and wonderful responsibility to be a light in this present darkness. We need to be a voice of encouragement and warning to people, both believers and unbelievers, about what is really important. And how can we do this without the God-given fuel for the light we are to share. Jesus is the Light of the world. We learn this from the word He has given us to know and learn. We must not be so "preoccupied" with the "mundane matters" that we think we have no time to read and study the Word. It tells us that "He has given us everything we need for life and godliness". (2 Peter 1:3) We do not know the final day or final hour. May we be passionate to "make the most of every opportunity". (Ephesians 5:16)
