How well – if at all – are you connecting the word of God that you read and hear to your daily life?

Is God’s word having an impact on your life – on your thinking and reasoning, on the choices that you make, the decisions that you take, the actions that you participate in?

You see, reading and listening to it alone is not the purpose of God’s word. The aim of God’s word is not to entertain but transform. But that transformation can only happen when we connect what we hear and read to our every day living, the choices and decisions we make each day. And faith is the bridge that makes that vital connection. Hebrews 4:2
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

It is when the word that is heard is coupled with faith in those who hear that it brings about the intended result and profit. If by faith you don’t act on what you hear, you risk being exactly like them. If what you hear and read has no bearing on how you live your life, then you are at risk of being like those to whom the word was to no profit, none at all.

Without that connecting, without that personal and concerted application of the word that we hear and read, we stand the risk of rendering God’s word unprofitable in our lives.

The utility of God’s word in my life depends on the exercise or practise of my faith in it. It is your action taken in faith that can address the disconnect between the word you hear and your life. This is not to deny or condition the power of God’s word which remains living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The impact of God’s word in us is related to the level of faith we exercise in it. How much we believe God’s word is tested by how much we have been transformed by it.

Faith, by its nature, is dynamic – constantly growing, changing, developing. It is neither static nor do we arrive there at once. Faith is guaranteed to grow progressively as we engage with God’s word systematically and regularly – not randomly and/or occasionally. Faith grows and develops as we engage more and more with the word of God and, equally important, as we exercise it, put into action what we read and hear. It is the baby steps of faith that we take; the exercise of the little that we possess, that will lead to more.

In conclusion then, the two key things we need to keep in mind and be watching out for in our lives regarding faith are:

1st, Am I connecting the word that I hear to my life by exercising faith in it? Is my faith in God’s word benefiting me, impacting my life, transforming me, bringing me closer to God and making me more like Christ?

2nd, Is my faith really growing, developing and improving or is it static, stale and stagnant possibly due to my erratic engagement with God’s word and disconnect from life because of a lack of its exercise?

Do not be lazy or neglect to, in faith, put into practise that which you read and hear in the word everyday. Only then will what you read and hear benefit you, only then will your faith be guaranteed growth.

Address the disconnect!