Philippians 4:6-9

I read a statement this morning that said, “Exposure to God’s Word is not enough.  It must lead to obedience.”  This statement came up as I was reading through Philippians 4.  As some of you know, a particular section of scripture that really influenced me when I first started to put my faith into practice so many years ago is Philippians 4:6-7.  Simply put, these two verses direct us to cast our worries on Christ and he will guard our hearts and mind as we trust in him.  As I was looking at some of my notes, there was a huge arrow pointing to the next two verses.  While verses 6 and 7 tell us not to worry about anything, verses 8 and 9 intentionally funnel our minds.  Check out what it says!

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”(NIV)

Two things we can all draw from this section of Scripture this week:

1)      What we put into our minds will determine what will come out.  The things we see and hear from the world around us have a heavy influence on what will come out in our words and actions.  Check out Matthew 13:1-23 (reread verse 23) and Matthew 15:11.  Something to keep in mind—we are not called out of the world to stay out.  We are called out of the darkness and then sent by Jesus back into it.  By being around those still living in darkness, you will hear and see things that are not godly.  Do not participate in them.  However, do not take it to the extreme and avoid the lost, otherwise they will never have the chance to hear the gospel from you.

2)      It’s not enough to hear God’s word or read the Bible.  We can memorize entire sections of Scripture, but the failure to put it into practice is like living at Old Country Buffet and refusing to eat.  The food looks good, it smells good, and people are feasting all around you.  But the truth is if you don’t consume food, you will die.  When you eat food, your stomach digests it and metabolizes it into energy.  It draws the nutrients that your body needs to live, thus allowing you to not only breathe, but to experience life.  Likewise, if you do not consume scripture and allow it to impact the way you live, the truth is that you will spiritually die.  There are a few people throughout the bible that God actually instructs to physically eat scripture (Ezekiel 3 and Revelations 10).  If it had bbq sauce, I might be able to do it; but then again, it really doesn’t sound appetizing.  (For further readings, check out Matthew 4:4; John 6:25; 14:15-24).

 

Before you take off, I want to encourage you to take advantage of a great opportunity you will have this weekend.  This Sunday is the Super Bowl.  You don’t have to be a sports nut to enjoy the super bowl.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to invite a neighbor or group of friends over to watch the game together.  If you get invited somewhere, I encourage you to go.  This national event is a great opportunity to connect with people and to be a light in this dark world.