“Long for the pure milk of the Word, so that you may grow.” 1 Peter 2:2 NAS
“The heart you bring determines whether you receive information or communication.”
My thoughts today are about “information and communication.”
You live in an amazing age of technological splendor. At yours and my fingertips, the Internet opens the world’s volumes of information and its apparently unlimited resources. What piques your curiosity? From your home, office, wireless laptop, or smart phone you can instantly access the most obscure information about any subject of which you are curious. Too much of it may be useless, some erroneous, a bit is dangerous, but all kinds of information are available to you.
When I finish writing my thoughts and comments this morning and hit “send” on my keyboard, they will be shared instantly and simultaneously with friends across town, across the country, and in distant and diverse places from where I am writing – England, Spain, Bulgaria, Sweden, Iraq, and India. What a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel.
I think your challenge is not to confuse information with communication. They are similar yet distinct. At the very time we have the greatest tools of acquiring and sharing information, we seem to have a dwindling understanding of communication. A danger is that you become more fascinated with the technology of messaging than understanding the message.
In an educational psychology class, I learned this principle of communication, “the teacher has not taught until the student has learned.” Information begins the exchange; communication completes it. Education is more than accurately dispensing information about an academic subject but also a teacher’s desire and ability to achieve a student’s love of learning, grasp of the subject, appreciation for its importance, integration into their existing knowledge, and proper understanding of its useful application for life and success.
Life and success require communication. Business depends upon it; friendships rely on it; marriage grows with it; parenting succeeds by it; and the Gospel demands it. God communicated the essential information you need when He wrapped truth in the flesh and blood of His Son to make the way of eternal life so clear that “whoever walks the road, although a fool, will not go astray.” Isaiah 35:8 NKJV. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 NKJV.
The Bible is God’s communication of truth. Much more than information about God, the Bible communicates an understanding of the heart, character, and eternal purposes of God in His world, and in your life. How you come to truth – the heart you bring and the hope you have – determines whether you receive information or communication. Too many people settle for the first; be among those who are eternally satisfied with the latter.
Bring to God’s Word the right attitude of expectation, a healthy appetite to learn and grow, and the proper aim of a transformed life. “Long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow – into the fullness of your salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2 NAS/NLT. Your goal is spiritual growth. See 2 Peter 3:18/John 16:13 NIV.
My prayer today for you is to love and prize God’s Word and apply its practical truth.