Start Now…

Dear Rhonda,

You are growing up a good church going kid. That is a fine thing, so don’t let that label bother you. It will spare you more heartache than you know. However, you are going to need more. You need the Word of God. You think you know it. You don’t. You know a few key verses. You know the stories, but, right now, you don’t know it. You are not aware of the life it brings. You are not aware of the changing power those printed words carry. You have no idea how soon you will cling to them for you own sanity. If I could tell you one thing to change, it would be your study of the Word of God. Dig in deep sister.

Start you scripture memorization now, and don’t wait until your mid-thirties. Jump head first into godly, biblical studies. Search out those who bring the truth of God’s word. Do not take it for face value because it comes from the pulpit. Open up that red, leather bound King James Version you have and read it for yourself. Do not rely on others to educate you about the Word. They can assist, but the responsibility is yours. Find a reading plan and start everyday you can reading the Word. Ask the Lord to make it fall fresh on your hard heart. It is the only thing that will soften it. Firmly root passages in your mind so that you are quick on the offensive when the enemy comes. And believe, dear one, he is coming. He is after you with all he has.

Your mind, like so many others, will be a repeated battle field. Armor up missy. You get in those pages. You put those words to use. You read them, study them, and use them to fight for your relationship with the One who inspired them. It is not going to matter what church you attend, what pastoral staff you know, or how much you serve, when the attacks come, when your faith is tested, when your very core is attacked, and it will be, it will come down to you and Jesus. You and what you have hidden in your heart about Him. You and what you have securely planted in your mind about God, our Father, and His love toward you.

The confidence you have in Him will only come from knowing Him, and that will come from studying His word. It is life to you, baby. It is life for you, for your marriage. For your boys to come.

As I sit here writing to you I can hardly see through my tears. I cannot express to you how much the Word of God is going to mean to you. How you will defend its integrity to the bitter end and how you will hold fast to it. Start now baby. Start now. You are not too young for this. You are not too messed up. You are not too good. You need those words. You need the Word. You need to know them. You need Him.

He will meet you on those printed pages. He will meet you in a single word. He will save you. He will change you. He will love you. He will set you free.

Open that book and let Him.

John 1:14 (New King James Version)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.