Word Weary

“The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”—John 6:63 

Years ago, Maxwell House used the marketing slogan, “Good to the last drop”. The first sip of fresh coffee may be the best, but they wanted you to remember that all of it was good, even “to the last drop.”

It’s much the same with Scripture. When we first begin to spend regular time in the Word, it has an excitement, freshness, and vibrancy that clears the cobwebs from our minds and helps our eyes to open and focus.

But do we really think of it as “good to the last drop”? Do we continue to spend regular time in it, uncovering new riches and gaining new strength—or are we content to learn a handful of famous verses and then set it aside?

Martin Luther used to say that he approached Scripture as if it were an apple tree, shaking every last branch he could find to see what might drop out for his nourishment. (Or, if you want to continue my earlier metaphor, think of shaking every last berry from a coffee bush…)

Luther knew that there a wealth of wisdom there that can last more than a lifetime, but that it is an inexhaustible treasure we too often ignore. In his commentary on Galatians, he wrote, “…there is nothing more dangerous than to be weary of the Word.”

The reason there is nothing so dangerous as this is because of the nature and function of the Word. It is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and serves to reveal and exalt Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh (John 1:14). We cannot claim to have a love for Jesus Christ while simultaneously ignoring or trivializing the Scriptures that magnify him and that he himself so deeply loved.

The great Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck expressed the relationship between Christ and Scripture like this:

“Scripture guides us to Christ, who is above, seated at the right hand of God; and Christ, who lives in our heart by the Spirit, guides us back to Scripture.”

For this reason, he also said:

“Scripture becomes not more but increasingly less dispensable and more glorious to those who are growing in the faith.”

The discipline of spending daily time in the Word is not a mechanistic means of accruing favor with God, nor is it an obligatory yet loveless duty. It is not something that we outgrow. It is, instead, a time to be guided to the living Christ, fed by the Spirit, and instructed in the ways of the Lord.

Take some time today to be rejuvenated, awakened, and energized—not by a good cup of coffee (although that is a blessing!), but by the words of eternal life given to us by our Eternal God. Every last drop is true. Every last drop is good.