BENEFITS FROM LOVING GOD'S WORD

READING the Bible is essential for a Christian. However, merely reading it does not in itself demonstrate a love of God's Word. What if someone reads the Bible but then practices things that the Bible condemns? Obviously, he does not love God's Word in the way that the writer of Psalm 119 loved it. Loving God's Word led him to live in harmony with its requirements. - Psalm 119:97, 101, 105.

Living in harmony with God's Word requires constant adjustment of one's thinking and way of living. Such a course reflects godly wisdom, which means to make practical applications of knowledge and understanding gained from studying the Bible. "Love [wisdom], and it will safeguard you. Highly esteem it, and it will exalt you. It will glorify you because you embrace it. To your head it will give a wreath of charm; a crown of beauty it will bestow upon you." (Proverbs 4:6, 8, 9) What fine encouragement to develop a love of God's Word and be guided by it! Who does not want to be safeguarded, exalted, and glorified?

Next time: Safeguarded From Lasting Harm

Watchtower, 1999