It Will Cost You the World

Someone once approached a great Bible teacher and said, “Sir, I would give the world to know the Bible as you do.”

The teacher looked at him and replied, “And that’s exactly what it will cost you.”

Romans 12 tells us, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (verse 2 NKJV).

How can our minds be transformed? It will happen through the study of God’s Word. In Acts 17 we read about those in the synagogue at Berea who listened very carefully when Paul and Silas showed up: “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men” (verses 10–11 NKJV).

I love that they listened eagerly and checked up on what they had to say. They were checking out none other than the apostle Paul, who wrote a good part of the New Testament. That is the right way to listen.

Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7 NKJV). The word abide means planting your roots deeply into Christ, soaking up the nutrients, growing each and every day, staying in a given place. It is staying in fellowship with Him. That means you study God’s Word. That means you memorize it. And ultimately it means that it affects your thinking, your living, and everything you do. We need to approach God’s Word this way.