Although we have received Christ and He is now in us as our life, in our experience the life within us will gradually disappear if we do not touch the Word, the Bible. The way for us to touch life is not to meditate. As a young believer, I was taught that I needed to meditate, but the more I tried to mediate, the more my mind wandered. Though I tried my best, I could not focus my thoughts on the Lord. Because meditation did not work, I quickly dropped it. In my experience I have found that the best way and the unique way to touch life is to come to the Bible.
If a believer feels cold toward the Lord, the reason may be that he or she is not reading the Bible. We need to read the Bible as much as we can. Regardless of how cold our heart is, we need to come to the Bible. We may not love the Lord, and we may even dislike the Lord because we feel that He has not answered our prayers. Nevertheless, we need to come to the Lord just as we are by coming to the Bible. The Lord is not in our imagination or our logic; rather, He is in His word in the Bible.
Some may think that I am a brother who is always zealous and on fire for the Lord, but this is not true. Sometimes I am inwardly frozen like a piece of ice. However, regardless of whether I am on fire or frozen, every day I come to the Bible. There is no other way to go on in the Christian life. If we are dead, nothing can make us alive but the word in the Bible. If we are going to an extreme, nothing can balance us but the word. The word is all-capable and all-sufficient. We simply need to come to the Bible because the word contains and embodies God, Christ, the Spirit, and life.
The Bible is not an ordinary piece of literature like a newspaper or a magazine; rather, it is the word of God. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The Bible is God’s breath objectively and God’s breathing subjectively. If we come into someone’s presence, we come into that person’s breathing. God’s breathing is full of life. The Bible is God’s word, His breath, and His very breathing.
After rising up in the morning, many people like to breathe in some fresh air. They may take a walk to be refreshed by the morning air. Likewise, every morning we need to be refreshed spiritually by coming to the Bible and thereby coming into God’s presence and God’s breathing. The number of verses that we read and memorize does not matter. After a time of deep breathing, it is difficult to remember the details of our first breath or of our second breath. We do not memorize air. We simply breathe to receive the benefits of the air. The same principle applies when we come to the Bible, which is God’s breathing.
When we come to the Word, we receive life. This life is God, Christ, and the Spirit. The function of this life is rich and all-inclusive. This life nourishes, waters, strengthens, supports, supplies, enlightens, rebukes, preserves, and safeguards us. The only way to live the high standard of the Christian life is to daily come to the Word.
We should not think that to come to the Word every day is to be religious or legal. We should not care for religion or legality; we should care only for life. For the sake of our physical life, we are legal in the sense that we eat every day. We would never try to liberate ourselves from the legality of eating. Even if we dislike our food, we will eat to live. Because young children sometimes refuse to eat, their mothers must encourage them and, if necessary, force them to eat. Regrettably, some young brothers and sisters need to be encouraged and even compelled to come to the Word for the sake of their spiritual health. If we are loose about spending time in the Word, we will not be healthy. For our spiritual health, we need to be legal in coming to the Word regularly every day.
The reason I am still physically strong at my advanced age is that for many years I have been legal in the matter of eating three meals a day. Every meal I eat is a large meal, and the largest one is breakfast. To be legal in this way is not bad; actually, it is necessary. Some legalities are life necessities. For our physical life we all need to keep four legalities: drinking, eating, sleeping, and breathing. If we are liberated from these legalities, we will die. We even need to be legal about when we eat and the quantity of food that we eat. We should eat three meals at the same times every day. We should not eat too much or too little, nor should we eat too much dessert. If we are legal in this way, we will be physically healthy. Our spiritual health also depends on keeping certain legalities. I encourage the young people to build up a legality of coming to the Word every morning. We should be condemned by our conscience if we do not spend ten to fifteen minutes each morning to pray over a few verses in order to eat the Word. If we make this a legality and build up this good habit, after a month we will see a positive difference in our Christian life.
We should not merely receive this word as a doctrine; rather, we should make a commitment before the Lord to practice this. As a young believer, Brother Watchman Nee read through the New Testament fifty-two times in one year. If we do not spend time in the Word every day, we cannot be healthy Christians. We will be noticeably healthier if we daily receive the food of the Word. May the Lord grant us the grace to realize our need to come to the Word. If we love the Lord and desire to glorify the Lord and live as a testimony for Him, the only way to do so is to daily come to the Word. We should not trust in so-called revivals and being stirred up. These things are vain, for they do not last. One thing is real—the continual touching of the Word of God. Every day—morning, afternoon, and evening—we need to touch the Lord through the Word.