Day 279
John 15:3
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."
Because of its cleansing properties, water is a type of the Word of God. In Ephesians 5:26, Paul said Christ would cleanse the church by the washing of water by the Word. In John 15:3, we see Jesus also speaking of the Word as a cleansing agent. Whatever mess we find in our lives, the Word of God is what we need to clean it up. Programs are usually available to help us get rid of bad habits, but if the Word is not applied, we can only do a cover-up job at best. The only thing that will do a thorough cleaning in our lives and eliminate, not just cover up our messes, is the Word.
Psalm 107:20 says, "He sent His Word and healed them." Psalm 19:9 says, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word." It is important that we put the Word of God first place in our lives and not neglect it. It will help us in every area of our existence. Not only will it clean away dirt, but as the psalmist indicated in Psalm 119:11, it will help prevent dirt from accumulating.
We should not give our attention to the word of God just to receive magical results. We should not use the Bible simply as a way to get out of our problems. We must give our attention to the Word with respect to God and with the intention of making it our pattern for living. James said in James 1:22, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." In verse 25, he said, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
Speaking the Word is also important. God told the children of Israel that they should teach the Word to their children and talk about it all the time. If we talk about the Word all the time, it will help us avoid talking against it. Sometimes, we cancel out the benefits we can get from the Word by speaking things that are contrary to what God has said. The first group of Israelites who left Egypt, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, never entered the promised land because they spoke against God's Word. God said he had given them the land, but they said they were unable to take it.
Let us make sure we do not cancel out the blessings God has promised us by saying things that contradict what He said. We must be consistently loyal to the Word in both speech and conduct. To do this, we must keep the scriptures before us by reading, meditating and speaking them.
Through God's Word, I will be clean. I will get rid of dirt and prevent contamination from occurring. I will keep the Word before me through reading, meditating and speaking it. I will be consistently loyal to the Word in speech and conduct.