6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. John 17:6-8
Imagine being able to listen in on the Lord Jesus as he talked with his men as they walked together. Everything he said was relevant to life, both temporal and eternal. You’d not want to miss one syllable if you truly knew who he was. Perhaps the expression to “hang on every word” was coined by the disciples (Luke 19:48) to describe the attention they paid to his discourses (too many as John said to write down, John 21:25), the formal and impromptu prayers he offered to His Father, and his sometimes inscrutable answers to their many questions.
In his words, Jesus “manifested” or revealed the Father’s name in all its aspects. His men, those the Father gave to him, save for Judas Iscariot who had already betrayed him, “received” these words, believed them, and deposited them into their hearts under heavy guard.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. 10 With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. 11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:9–11
If you want to gauge where you are in your Christian walk, you can simply look to how active the Word of God is in your life. You often hear descriptions of a good book, that it “couldn’t be put down,” or it was a “real page turner.” Is the Word of God that compelling to you that you can’t put it down or resist turning the page? Moreover, is it changing you?
To hold in your hand “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68) and to not consult them is both a travesty and tragedy. The more that is read and activated in your life, the greater your belief in God will grow (v. 8). Jeremiah puts the privilege we enjoy this way.
16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16
While scripture is useful in all respects (2 Timothy 3:16), most of all the Word reveals the totality of God’s name. What’s in a name, as they say? Everything, but most importantly life!
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31
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