Ask any Christian if the Word of God is the most powerful thing we have, and they will surely reply with an enthusiastic “Yes.”

But that is not quite a biblical response. In Mark 7:11-13 Jesus himself says of His own words, that the Word of God can be overcome and rendered useless as He warns us: “But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban! (that is, A gift to God, whatever you may profit by me) and you no longer allow him to do anything toward his father or mother, making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have delivered. And you do many such things” (Emphasis added).

For us to avoid nullifying the Word of God, making it powerless and impotent, we need to be aware of the wiles of the enemy which he will use to separate us from the Lord. We must not fall into a lifeless religious thinking or tradition – a simple but common ploy of the enemy.

We need to remember that Christianity in its essence is not a religion but a relationship, a personal relationship with the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven of Earth. It is free to anyone who accepts His Son Jesus as their personal saviour.

In this relationship, our focus is always forward beyond the empty cross and empty tomb to the risen Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our Saviour. It is to Him and Him alone we need to focus and pay attention. We do not compete with our fellow Christians, or anyone else to that matter, in terms of righteousness, piety, giving, pew allocation or anything else. All the traditions of the Church are also subservient to Jesus and the Word. Other things are the ways of the enemy, the ways which allow us to make gods of ourselves and become self seeking and self centred. The way of Jesus, is a direct one-to-one relationship with Him. He is a relational God. In this way, we will hear His new rhēma Words and the words from His Bible will take on a new life and meaning for us. To those in a relationship with the living God, His words is life, always current and always fresh. After we accept Jesus as our Lord, King and Saviour, all we need to do is to read His Word and concentrate on Him and all else will fall into place! He will unveil the mysteries of His Word, and gladly unveil them, and all we need to do is ask!

Amen and Amen.