I am pleased to have Bruce Tillotson, a servant of God, a Gideon, and co worker in God's Kingdom with us today.. I was privileged to be his pastor for many years ago, even before he became a Gideon.

Some of you recall the fact that Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason are four sources and guidelines for our theology in the Wesleyan pattern. However, for Wesley and for me, the first and foremost in importance is the Scripture. I hope that is true for you also.

Having heard a little bit of the marvelous ways God is using the Scripture to impact the lives of people around the globe, I want us to focus on how we use the Scriptures in our lives. Many of us have Bibles all around us. Let me ask, are they collecting dust, or are they tools to help transform our lives? How do we allow the Bible, the Law, the Precepts, and the Word of God, to touch our lives? Let us take a few moments to consider what the Psalmist had to say about it.

I. K now

The thrust here is not merely to know about It, but to KNOW IT. I believe we must start here. Would you dare claim, "I know God's law?" The Psalmist was not only speaking of the Ten Commandments, but all God's Word that he had access to. And we have access to more of it today, the whole Old Testament and New Testament.

Notice what the Psalmist says about the Scriptures, (v.98) "…makes me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine." God's word was a precious possession of David that made him wise. (v.99) "I have more insight…" (v.100) "I understand more… I have observed…" Can we honestly make such bold claims?

II. L ove

(v.97) "O how I love Thy Law!" (v.103) "How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" My friends, I believe that loving the Word of God is vital to allowing it to really have an impact in our lives. One commentator wrote, "The rapture of enlightening. Really no distinction here between God and what God says. To love God is to love His Word." To fulfill our duty and responsibility to God and His word are necessary.

But if we really love Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as our personal savior we should love God's Word and desire to spend time reading a studying it, alone each day, and with others in our worship, SS, Bible Study. Proof of David's love was his meditation. To love the law should lead us to meditate on the law.

III. M editate

Listen again to what David said in verse 97, "It is my meditation all the day. He was talking about spending time in God's word, more than a quick glance. Many of us might take a quick glance at a verse or a short passage of Scripture. This is not bad, but if we are going to grow as sons and daughter of God we also need to do more than briefly look at the Bible. We need to chew the teachings of God's Word on over and over. We need to give thought to what the Bible says, what it means, and how we ought to apply it to our personal lives. I believe the meditating here also carries with it the idea of acting on the truth that we meditate on.

IV. N o

Previously with my alphabetical help I mentioned Know. If we are really going to follow the Lord we need to get to know God and His law. We need to love God and His teachings and meditate on them. As we come to this next letter, N. I remind you that the spiritual practices mentioned should lead us to say No to sin. In verse 101, David said, "I have restrained my foot from every evil way." And in verse 104 he said, "I hate every false way." Can we make these statements with conviction? If we can we move to the next letter, O.

V. O bey

I already said that meditating on God's Word has the idea of acting on the truth and just mentioned saying No to sin. These certainly are involved in obedience. David wrote, "Because I have observed Thy precepts." He spoke of keeping God's Word. To know and love God and His word should lead us to meditate on the scriptures and say, "No," to sin, which is how we live in obedience to God. If we say we know and love God and the Scripture, but make little effort to obey, do we really love God? I don't think so.

Finally, K, L, M, N, O, comes P

VI. P ractice

This is the challenge for us, to practice living according to the teachings of the Word of God. That is what the Christian life is all about. Apparently David tried to practice what he wrote about. V. 102, "I have not turned aside from thine ordinances."

I invite you to be committed to practice living as the teaching of the Bible instructs us.

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