¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

¹² You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

He comments on how God's Word should transform our lives.

But why is it that we do not see it in our lives?

He writes "But a truly effective ministry of the Word must confront our self-focus and self-absorption at its roots, opening us up to the vastness of a God-defined, God-centered world. Unless this happens, we will use the promises, principles, and commands of the Word to serve the thing we really love: ourselves. This may be why many people read and hear God's Word regularly while their lives remain unchanged. Only when the rain of the Word penetrates the roots of the problem does lasting change occur." pp. 24-25

Now ask yourself this, how many times have you cling to promises of God that you like or are comfortable with, remembering hard and always thinking about it while skimming through the hard and difficult commandments? Have we not read the Bible for our own? Do we not show just self-centeredness that makes our reading of God's Word a mere duty to fulfill our 'duty' as a Christian so as to please ourselves or our leaders?

The issue is this do you "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength?" This is our root problem: We do not love God as we should, and we love ourselves more than we should, and unless we recognize that, we will never be loving Him as we should.

May this be our prayer "O Lord, grant that I may desire You, and desiring You, seek You, and seeking You, find You, and finding You, be satisfied with You for ever. (St. Augustine)"

Labels: Augustine, Change, Isaiah