The RenewaNation Review 2014 Volume 6 Issue 2 | Page 44

119:105. He confesses, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Let me ask you, “Do you like walking around in the dark?” I sure don’t. Without being in the Word on a regular basis, we are in effect, walking around in the dark. And it is no surprise that we might not be doing that great of a job managing what the Owner has entrusted to us, if we are not regularly reviewing the directions from His Managers’ Training Manual.   So, for us, isn’t the beginning of getting started in reading the Bible on a daily basis more about heart change than it is a schedule change? We need to be STUDENTS of His Word. three times from the book of Deuteronomy. Now, here is the problem for many believers today: The overwhelming majority of believers have never even read Deuteronomy. Many may have trouble even finding it in their Bible and few if any, have even one verse of Deuteronomy commit- ted to memory. So when tempted as Christ was tempted to follow the ways of the world, we, unlike Him, are completely unarmed to resist these temptations because we do not have His Word committed to memory.   My point is this, if we want to be successful in navigating our way through the countless enticements of living in this tempting, materialistic world, we better have a host of Scrip- ture committed to memory that can anchor us to the Owner and His directives. Treasuring His word in our hearts will keep us from wandering away by staying focused on being good and faithful managers.   It is a good thing to read the Word on a regular basis, but we also need to dig deeper and become students of the Word. Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”   I would hope all of us would be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who “were of more noble "Research shows that character than the Thessalonians, for they received of all professing Christians have even read the message with great eagerness and examined the through the entire Bible once in their lifetime." Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” They weren’t just reading the Book; they were studying it.   The insights that I share with you in my Life Stewardship   So, exactly how do we get directions from the Owner studies have not come from simply reading the Word, they regarding what He wants us to do with all that He has have come from studying it deeply and meditating on it for entrusted to us? The first way is to be continuously reading years. Are you willing to become not just a reader, but a His Word, studying His Word, and memorizing His Word student of the Owner’s Manual? and then most importantly, we need to be equally commit- LESS THAN 10% We need to be MEMORIZERS of His Word. We not only need to get the Word of God in our head, we also need to get it in our hearts. I love what David says in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” The internalized/memorized word may be the single best deterrent I know of to prevent us from becoming careless, sloppy, and disobedient stewards.   Let me give you an example of what I am saying here. Do you remember when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan? On three different occasions, Satan tried to tempt Him to betray His Father and His mission. On all three occasions, Jesus rebuffed Satan’s temptation by quoting from the Word of God. What you may not know is that all three of the Scriptures He quoted were from the same book of the Bible. Do you know what book it was? He quoted 44 ted to obeying it. Are you ready to become an expert in the directions given in the Owner’s Manual?  © 2014 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved. Editor’s Note: This article is part one of a three-part series. Subsequent articles will appear in future issues. E. G. “Jay” Link is the Chief Steward of Stewardship Minis- tries, a comprehensive discipleship ministry to pastors, their churches, and individual believers to equip them in how to effectively live the life of a good and faithful steward of all God has entrusted to them. He is the author of four books, Who’s in Charge Here, Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought, To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face, and Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter. He may be reached via email at [email protected].