Yes, the Science Guy. That one. The zany one who makes half hour programs that teach a modicum of science. [I used to have a photo of him here, but removed it for fear of recriminations from Disney, about which I’ve been hearing so much lately.]

One day, while Bill was teaching us that wetlands are wet, he held up two sponges, one dry, one damp.  He told us that a wet sponge will soak up more water than a dry one. Even if you don’t actually do the experiment, you can picture a dry sponge and a damp one both being plunged into a big bowl of water and removed.  You know that the wet sponge will be dripping with all the water it soaked up, while the dry one will only have begun to have its pores penetrated. Dry can’t hold as much as wet.

If the ground is so dry it cracks, you’d think intuitively that when a quick downpour finally comes, the rain would run deep down into those cracks and soak into the parched earth.

Instead, there are runoffs. Flooding.

When I come to listen to a speaker or read a Christian life book, if my soul is dry of the sinking deep in of the Word of God—the Living Word, through the written Word—I may for a while exude about the speaker or writer’s excellence. I may experience a flood of inspiration, and it may run off, briefly to others. But it won’t contribute to that lasting change of life that I long for. It won’t soak in.

If I take in the true Word of God—the Living Word, through the written Word—drinking long and deep, then when I listen to a seminar or hear the preacher week after week or read the great theology book my friend recommends, I can benefit more deeply, more lastingly.

After all, Jesus said, “He who comes to me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

And Hebrews 6 tells us that it’s the earth that drinks in the “often rain” and then teems with life-giving herbs, that’s the earth that’s blessed by God.

Drink often. Drink daily. Drink while you drive in your car and while you wash the pots and while you walk the dog. “Soak in” the person and character and accomplishments of the Living Word as you meditate, through the written Word, on who He is and what He has done.

Your soul will be ready to receive the downpour, whenever, wherever it may come.

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Go here to download your free Guide, How to Enjoy the Bible Again (when you’re ready) After Spiritual Abuse (without feeling guilty or getting triggered out of your mind). You’ll receive access to both print and audio versions of the Guide (audio read by me). I’m praying it will be helpful.