John writes in John 1:14 that the Word is Jesus,
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word is also the spoken word of God. God spoke to create the earth in Genesis 1. God also directly spoke to people. God spoke to Adam in Genesis 1:16,17 saying,
"You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
God spoke through his prophets. He spoke through Moses and Joshua to the Israelites countless times. And then lastly God's word is written in the Bible. Moses brought God's written word in the 10 commandments.
In our study of systematic theology we will focus on God's written word. It's the Bible that we have in our hands to study. It's the bible that we're commanded to study (Psalm 1:1,2). In Wayne Grudem's book Systematic Theology he asks,
"Do you think you would pay more attention if God spoke to you from heaven or through the voice of a living prophet than if he spoke to you from the written words of Scripture?"
I would say no. We would probably like to say yes because that gives us an excuse for not being zealous for God and His word. I ask myself, why am I more excited to see my husband after work or see my son in the morning than I am to read God's written word. Look at Israel, God spoke to them numerous times through Moses and Joshua and then the next chapter they'd be back to worshipping their other gods.
Exodus 20:18-20 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightening and sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness.
God came physically into the Israelites presence and they got freaked and didn't want to hear the Lord speak. They told Moses, you talk to God. The Israelites were afraid they'd die if they talked to Him. Moses came back, shared the Lord's word, and then in chapter 32 Moses was up on the mountain and the Israelites built a calf and worshiped it. It doesn't matter what form the Lord reveals himself in, our flesh will not desire it.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
It's only through God's grace that we desire His word and become more like Jesus Christ.
So as a wife and mother how do I find time to study God's word? First of all, I don't think it will be me but Christ who gives me that desire and the time to do it. As He works in me He will give me the desire to make that a priority in my life. So when it's been the craziest day, Timmy's woke up early cause his teeth hurt, my husband had to leave early for work, the house is trashed, didn't get a chance to exercise, haven't got a chance to shower, and my son finally goes down for a nap that afternoon, what will my desire be? Is it to get my exercise done, take a warm bath, clean the house, or read some scripture. Right now it would honestly probably be one of the other three choices. My prayer is that the Lord would give me a desire, a longing, and an understanding of His word.
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