Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
If you believe in Jesus, that means you have given Him all there is of you, which includes your mind. Your motivation is His love, not fear of punishment; you want to be one with Him just as a bride wants to be one with her husband. She doesn't look upon being one with him as a burden; rather, it's a priceless privilege.
You will want to think the thoughts of the Son of God, not trying to figure out how to get ahead, or to protect yourself during the "time of trouble" that the Bible speaks of. You will be heart and soul wrapped up in what Christ wants to do for the world. You will be obsessed with wanting to help somebody else, just as He has helped you.
In particular, your concern will be to "feed" the world with "the bread of life" that comes through Christ. He says He is "the truth" (John 14:6); and He is also "the bread of life" (6:35). Your personal happiness will be found in your longing for that; it will be your "hunger for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). You will want to understand the Bible. That may seem like a miracle to you, because at present you may find it boring. But be honest--that's the only way to get to "first base."
It's impossible for us to "love Jesus" any more than we actually love the Bible, for He is the Word of God. So be careful about parading your "love for Jesus." The point is this! Every new day we are reminded that we need what Jesus told Nicodemus: "You must be born again." It's good news that you will learn to hunger for the Word of God more than you hunger for breakfast (Jer. 15:16), or for the entertainment that the world loves. When that happy time comes (and it can be today!) you will have "passed from death into life" (John 5:24).
Don't forget, love for the Word of God will include a hunger to understand both Daniel and Revelation; and remember, your Teacher, the Holy Spirit, is full of common sense. He doesn't teach fanatical ideas of those important books!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 6, 2003.
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