“His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you.” —John 5:37–38
The Pharisees were renowned for their knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. Yet one day Jesus looked them in the eye and said, “You have never heard [the Father’s] voice.”
I can just see those indignant, bedecked Bible scholars turning red in the face and spluttering, “He’s just a blue-collar worker! He’s never even been to seminary! And he’s telling us that we have never heard God speak? Why, we’ve spent our whole lives mastering the Bible!”
But Jesus wasn’t finished. He went on, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40).
The purpose of getting into God’s Word is to meet Jesus. He is the Word! If we master the Bible but don’t end up knowing, loving, wor- shiping, serving, and being like Jesus, we’re really no better than the devil himself.
Make it Personal
Before you read your Bible today, ask the Lord to help you truly meet with Him.