The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have the Bible Edge
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Overwhelmed yet? There are a lot of things that a child of God should “let” themselves do and be. “How can anyone be all of these things all the time” would be a sensible question. After all, the word “let” is used 1,219 times throughout Scripture. 300 of these are in the New Testament. Just consider the 300. How can anybody do all of these all the time? Perhaps the secret is in today’s verse. The Bible Edge in how to “let” all the “let’s” be obeyed is this one: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…
Ask almost any pastor this: “Who among your congregation has the very best testimony of true Christianity, the happiest demeanor, and the best outlook on life, etc.?” They will probably mention individuals that have some similar characteristics: they are at all the services, have personal daily devotions, a vibrant prayer life, and they love fellowship with other believers. All of these, attendance to services, reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship combined, are direct results of letting the word of Christ dwell in them richly in them.
The word of Christ must be the Word of God. After all John 1:1 states clearly that Jesus is the “Word” that has existed since before the creation of the World. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So, let this Word dwell in you richly.
Think about it like this, the Word of God is a filter. Every thought that comes into your mind can be filtered through the written Word of God. The thoughts that are contrary to that Word should be dismissed. Eve could have done this. When the serpent said unto her …Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4) she could have filtered that through God’s word on the matter to which her reply could have been, “God said I would die if I ate of that tree, I choose to believe Him not you.” That is, if she replied at all, probably would have been best just to walk away and have no further conversation with that viper.
The Bible Edge that perhaps is an edge of all Bible Edges is this: Let God’s Word dwell in you richly. From this comes wisdom, teachings, even to the admonishing one of another in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.
William Howe, Ph.D.