For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

I have committed to reading the Bible through in one year with Wendy Pope and those who have chosen to join her on this journey. We began January 1, and are reading The One Year Chronological Bible, New Living Translation. I love this Bible because the readings are already set out for you by day, i.e., January 1, January 2, etc. And, I have always thought it would be cool to read the Bible in the order the events occurred.

On January 3, we had reached one of those passages about the descendants of So and So. Now, I confess that in times past when reaching one of these sections, I was more likely than not to skip over it entirely, or, if I did start to read it, the names gave me such a fit that I would quit before finishing.

So, I reached this passage, which was specifically Genesis 10:6-20 concerning the descendants of Noah’s sons, Japheth, Ham, and Shem.

Again, my first impulse was to skim over it, but I thought to myself, “No, I committed to reading the ENTIRE Bible, and this is part of that. God obviously included it for a reason, or it would not be here, so I am going to read it all even if my tongue no longer works after trying to pronounce all these names!”

Ya’ll, God honored my commitment! His Word leaped off the page at me. I learned things about Biblical history I had never known before, and I can not tell you how interesting it was! Seriously!

His Word is alive and active. If we will but seek Him and ask Him what He wants us to know, He will show us.

That is not to say that I believe there will be a “divine revelation” every time we open our Bible. That passage of scripture did not apply to any circumstance I was facing at the time, but God did use the lesson to show me I can trust His Word to be everything I need it to be. I learned things I had not previously known. On another day, God may use that passage to apply to something specific in my life. How? I do not know. But He does. The point is that I must be in His Word.

My job is to earnestly seek Him. To want to know Him more. And I do that through prayer and the reading and studying of His Word.

He sees my heart, and He knows that I desire more than anything else to know more of Him each day. That is all that is required. When I seek Him, I will find Him. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

May He be found by you today.

Blessings,