And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

1 Thessalonians 2: 13

 

Words, words, and even more words, they are everywhere. We can read newspapers full of them; there are magazines published to address virtually every topic and audience; a book can be had to numb us or to exhort us or to instruct us or to blind us to truth. There are words flowing like torrents of water through the air; there are more words than anyone could ever read available through the Internet. Even the icon of spoken communication, the telephone, has become a device that can supply all of the above. We are saturated by words. They virtually drown our daily lives.

 

However, words that have real meaning and impact are hard to find. Words that sink beneath the surface and into our hearts are truly rare. I think that the very abundance of information and thoughts and direction that we encounter can lead to a form of over stimulation that then causes us to just stop listening to much of anything. There is also the true risk that we will accept everything as truth; for, there are so many sources of information and very few trustworthy filters for that information.

 

In all of this wordiness, there is only one source of truly living words; words that are alive in our hearts; words that are spoken and interpreted by the author within the heart of the hearer. God is the living word. His nature, character, and love are shown to us in the printed words of the bible. The Holy Spirit is alive in each believer; He brings truth and understanding; He speaks God’s will to us. The test of the validity of these words is in the fact that they are at work in our lives. We can see the changes in others, and, as we are in Christ, we live the changed life our selves.