"Let me live that I may praise You, and may Your laws sustain me."
Psalm 119:175

John Wallace, principal of the college I atttended when I was preparing for the ministry used to say to his
students: "Don't be surprised to discover that many Christians are for more interested in interpretation
of the Bible than the application of it." I have often thought of those words when I have come across Christians
who have been indignant because someone has disagreed with their particular pet doctrine but have shown
no concern whatsoever about massive violations in their lives of the Scripture's commands.

Howard and William Hendricks said in Living By The Book: "Observation plus interpretation without
application equals abortion." In other words, every time we observe and interpret Scripture but fail to apply
it we perform an abortion on the Bible in terms of it's purpose. You see, the Bible was not written to satisfy
our curiosity but to transform our lives and make us more like Christ. once we stop applying it, it loses it's
power over us. Ultimately, our aim should not be to do something to the Bible, such as making a critical
study of it, but allowing it to do something to us. Believe me, we will never find the Bible to be a
dynamic Book if we do not surrender to its truths and obey it's commands.

James Packer has made this comment: "To know what God asks and expects of us and not do it
is worse than not knowing at all. God gives us His Spirit not to reveal God's mind to us
apart from Scripture and so make Scripture needless, but to show us God's mind through
Scripture by giving use personal understanding of how the Bible bears on us and our lives."
How striking it is that the longest psalm - the one above - celebrates the power of God's Word in a believer's life.

Taken from: Everyday With Jesus (May/June 1997 Issue - 13th June 1997)
Author: Selwyn Hughes