I came to faith while attending a women’s Bible study as a young mom grappling with a trial I didn’t want and a God I didn’t understand. His sovereign plan included much more than teaching me about the Old Testament Minor Prophets (whose names I could barely pronounce). The God of the universe drew me, a sin-ravaged woman, into a relationship with Him through His Son. Through the pages of the Word, I met Jesus. He is the One my heart had been yearning for all along but didn’t know it.
That was a long time ago, but it’s where I learned to love the Word. I still love the Word. My affection has grown because I know it more. But I’m also human. There are seasons in my life when the Bible tastes like stale manna and others when it explodes on my taste buds like an indescribable delicacy from heaven (and every other flavor in between).
The teacher of my first Bible study was zealous about the Word, and she passed down her passion to me. She didn’t just teach it, she lived and breathed it. She quoted it. She prayed it. She loved it. Because of her influence, I devoured the Word. The more I read and meditated, the more I hungered for it. I pledged to God I would read it every day of my life.
Take a Pulse on Your Passion
Who influenced you to love the Word? A Sunday school teacher? Your grandmother? A mentor? Thank God for that individual. Better yet, thank them publicly or personally. (Thank you, Carmen!) Their influence has helped shape who you are today.
You may not consider yourself a Bible teacher, but you don’t have to be the one in front of the class to impart a hunger for the Word. In reality, we’re all teachers of something. Whatever you’re passionate about is what other people will latch on to. If the Word isn’t vital to you, it won’t be vital to them. What does a passion for the Word look like? Let’s take a pulse:
- Does the Word occupy my thoughts? (Phil. 4:8)
- Is the Word hidden in my heart? (Psalm 119:11)
- Do I have a plan for daily Bible meditation and memorization? (Psalm 119:97)
- Can I honestly say that the Word is my authority for life? (Psalm 119:30)
- Am I passing down my Bible knowledge and understanding to someone younger? (Deut. 6:7)
- Do I personally turn to the Word when anxious, in doubt, overwhelmed, or in despair? (Psalm 119:143)
- Does God’s truth regularly flow from my lips in conversation? (Psalm 119:171–172)
- Are there areas of my life where I’m compromising the truth? (Psalm 119:128)
Three Passionate Students of the Word
When I think of passionate students of God’s Word that I want to emulate, the scribe-priest Ezra comes to my mind first. Ezra 7 records three times that God’s hand was upon him (vv. 6, 9, 28).
He “determined in his heart to study the law of the LORD, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel” (v. 10, emphasis added).
Ezra led God’s people to love and obey the Law—faithfully applying God’s truth to his own heart before teaching it to others. He’s remembered for an extraordinary event in Nehemiah 8, when the Israelites asked him to read Moses’ Law after rebuilding the Jerusalem wall. The people stood at rapt attention while Ezra read and explained Genesis through Deuteronomy from an elevated platform for six hours.
As the water of the Word gushed over their dusty hearts, they knelt low, worshiped with their faces to the ground, lifted their hands, erupted in “Amen, Amen!” and even moaned with tears of conviction (Neh. 8:3, 6, 9–10). They celebrated the washing of the Word for the joy of the Lord was their strength (v.10). Under Ezra’s ministry, the wonder of God’s Word was restored. His public and passionate reading of the Word led to true repentance and revival.
Ezra’s love for the Law even impressed Persian King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:25). In the book What the Bible Is All About, beloved Bible teacher Henrietta Mears exhorts readers, “Oh that we might live in such a way that others would learn to have respect for God’s Book!”1
Mears herself followed Ezra’s example to “study–obey–teach” while instructing a Sunday school class at Hollywood Presbyterian Church from 1928 until the day of her death thirty-five years later. The class attendance testifies to her enthusiasm and skill as a Bible teacher: it grew from 450 to 4,200 in two and a half years. At its peak, her pupils numbered 6,500. Her ministry had a profound influence on many spiritual leaders, including Bill and Vonette Bright and Billy Graham.
In a recent recording session, another beloved Bible teacher, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, spoke candidly about the beauty and power of the Word. She shared from the overflow of her heart, which deeply treasures the Word of God, five reasons Scripture is her ultimate source of life and strength, giving a peek into her personal walk with God.
5 Reasons Scripture Is the Ultimate Source of Life and Strength
- The Word is a blessing. “The more time we devote to putting God’s Word under a microscope—reading it, thinking about it, meditating on it, praying through it, trying to understand it, responding to it, trembling at it—the more time we invest in this Book, we’re blessed.”
- The Word is life-changing. “Anyone who takes time to read and meditate on God’s Word is going to get more out of it than if they don’t. The Word of God, infused into our spiritual veins, is powerful. It’s transformative. It gives us perspective of everything that’s going on around us.”
- The Word is a gift to others. “Every day, as I [hear from] people in different life circumstances and different challenges, all I know to share is what God is giving me. [The Word] not only feeds my soul, but it gives me something to feed other hungry and hurting and needy souls.”
- The Word is worth it. “It’s a privilege. It’s hard work, but it is so worth it. Whatever it takes for you to get to the next step of engaging with God’s Word—maybe it’s getting up just a little bit earlier to read just a little bit more, maybe it’s sitting and soaking in one chapter for days or weeks—get in it. Get it into you. Ask God to help you understand what you don’t understand.”
- The Word is wonderful. “Love God’s Word—through that you will come to know and love God. And you will experience His love for you. I want you to have that sense of wonder and awe at the privilege of knowing, loving, and sharing God’s Word.”
Friend, you’ll never love God more than you love His wonderful Word. Let’s not grow lukewarm toward God’s inspired, infallible, all-sufficient Word. He placed you exactly where you are today to “study–obey–teach” like the faithful role models Ezra, Henrietta, and Nancy. As we lead others to the deep well of the Scriptures, may we adopt and live the wise words of Joshua:
“This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8–9)
1Henrietta C. Mears, What the Bible Is All About (Gospel Light Publications, 1953), 147.