“And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not” (Ezek 33:31-32; KJV).

I love how the word of God gets right to the basic issues of life. How often we ask ourselves, why am I not growing in my walk with God as I would like to, why don’t I experience God as I should?

Are we like the people God spoke about to Ezekiel? Do we hear and read God's word and enjoy it but don’t do it, don’t allow it to change us but go about doing our own thing? As we hear and read God's word, we need to ask ourselves, what does this word say to me, what does it mean, what is God trying to tell me?

The parable of the sower shows us so clearly how satan can steal the word from us or prevent it from bearing fruit in our lives through the pressures and busyness of life (Matt 13:3-9; 18-23). The word has the power (Heb 4:12; James 1:21) to change us, to bring good fruit into our lives (Matt 13:23; Gal 5:22-23) and make us doers of the word. (James 1:22) We just need to prayerfully apply ourselves to read, study and meditate it. (1 Tim 4:13;15).

We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what God is saying to us in his word, to open his word to us (John 14:26). Then we will not need to tell people we are Christians, they will see it in our lives (1 Tim 4:15).

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