It’s an old adage, yet very true! Thoughts produce acts and acts produce habits and habits produce character! And we should take that on board today and apply it to our Christian way of living!

Hunger and habit for God's word is not a natural appetite, we are not born with it but we are born again with it.

If that hunger and habit are not in you then it’s time to do some serious thinking.

Now you may be sitting here today and saying to yourself, well, I just don’t have that kind of hunger or habit for God’s word.

In fact with me it really comes in fits and starts if I am honest!

And really folks, the reason is because we do not cultivate a hunger and habit for God's Wonderful Word. It is something we must actively do!

Let me remind you as we come to God’s Word today, God is much more interested in what we are than He is in what we have!

We, on the other hand, are much more interested in what we have than what we are.

Now of course we are interested in what we have. We have worked hard to get what we have, and if we have something very precious we make sure it’s kept in a safe place and therefore we cannot help but be interested in what we have and that is not wrong!

The problem comes when we are more interested in what we have than what we are.

It’s not wrong to be interested in what we have but it is deadly seriously wrong when we elevate what we have to a place higher by far than what we are.

Listen carefully to the counsel of Jethro to Moses that he might choose godly men to help him adjudicate the affairs of Israel.

Moses is instituting a process for godliness in leadership and in his people that will stand the test of time and trial. One of the major things that must be displayed is that there be no covetousness of things and that they be more concerned about what they are than what they have!

This is no new strategy, this is something that goes back to the days of Moses and God still demands the same today.

Now, how do I as a person get to a point where I am more interested in what I am than I am in what I have?

You see it would have been so easy for the children of Israel to have, had a wrong desire as they head towards the new land of blessing. They could easily have set their hearts on the things that the land possessed, rather than set their hearts on why God was sending them there in the first place.

You see God had chosen and called this people first and foremost to be a people of God and to display him as the living and true God, that was the purpose and plan God had for his people. But they could have so easily gone into Canaan with the wrong motive entirely. So Joshua was instructed himself to encourage his people to "meditate on God’s Word! They were to meditate or ponder the Word of God. Now the very same instruction is left us, the people of God, in this age.

Now the question is, how do we do that? Well, the very same way God instructed Joshua, by meditating on the Word of God!

Or as our title suggests, Ponder the Word.

You see it’s not simply enough to quote or preach the Word of God, we need to meditate or Ponder the Word! That means to turn it over in our minds.

The word meditate has the connotation of humming, as you would a tune. You know when you get a tune in your head and keep humming it until the words come back to you.

You see, the ultimate key to all Scripture is Christ Himself.

On the road to Emmaus the Lord Jesus warmed the hearts of two of his disciples by showing them in the Scriptures "the things concerning himself" Luke 24 v 27. Let me say it again, everything centres on Him! God has no programs, no plans, no purposes for this planet, which do not ultimately come to rest in the person of his beloved Son.

He is revealed in scores of Old Testament types; He is the subject of hundreds of prophecies, He is the great central figure of the Bible.

Dr. John Phillips tells of seeing a copy of the constitution of the United States of America in a novelty store. It had been written long hand by an artist. The spacing of the words however puzzled him. Some of the words and letters were cramped together; others were spaced out, some of them quite far apart. There, at first glance, did not seem any logical reason for the haphazard way the penman had written out the words.

That is, there seemed to be little sense to it, until you stood back a little way; then the artist’s purpose became clear. He had so written that copy of the constitution that the cramped areas provided shaded areas on the paper and the spaced-out words provided light areas. The result was that he had not only written out a copy of the constitution, he had also drawn a portrait of George Washington. It was a very effective piece of work.

Now folks, that is how the Spirit of God has written the Scriptures.

Why, for example, should he dismiss the creation of the sun, moon and the stars of space in five brief words. "He made the stars also", yet devote about fifty chapters to telling of the tabernacle?

The history of some 1,500 years is disposed of in nine verses in Genesis 4 v 16-24 yet a quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to the story of Joseph, a man who was not even in the Messianic Line.

The rise and fall of great world empires are barely mentioned yet God dwells long and lovingly on those stories of men like Abraham, Jacob and Moses.

The great world figures, which strutted across the pages of history are mostly ignored or are mentioned in an off hand way and then only when their careers touched on the history of Israel.

Yet God will spend chapter after chapter writing down the requirements of the offerings, going into the smallest detail, even saying the same thing over and over again. There has to be a reason. There is! God is writing into the pages of his word a full-length portrait of his Son!

And dear folks we will do well when interpreting the Scriptures, to keep a sharp eye open for details that speak of Christ!

We see Him in Genesis as the Creator, as the Seed of the Woman, as the Star that will arise out of Jacob, as the Lion of Judah. We see Him in the story of Abel’s lamb, in the ark of Noah, in what happened in mount Moriah, in the story of Joseph.

We see Him in Exodus in the Passover Lamb, in every part of the Tabernacle, in the Shekinah Glory Cloud, in the Manna, and in the Riven Rock.

We see Him in Leviticus in the offerings and as the Great High Priest, in the ritual for cleansing the leper. In the goats of the Day of Atonement and in all the annual feasts.

We see Him in Numbers in the Red Heifer, in the Serpent on the pole, in the parables of Balaam and in the cities of refuge.

In Deuteronomy He is the prophet like unto Moses.

In Joshua He is the Captain of our Salvation.

In Judges He is the Deliverer of His own.

In Ruth He is the Kinsman-redeemer.

In Samuel He is the ark, the rejected King brought at last to the throne.

In Kings and Chronicles he reigns as Solomon in Splendour and Glory.

In Ezra he is the ready scribe.

In Nehemiah he is to be seen in every city gate.

In Esther he is the one who provided the salvation.

He is to be seen in most of then Psalms. He is the Blessed Man in Psalm 1, the Son in Psalm 2, the Shepherd in Psalm 23. He is the suffering Saviour in Psalm 22 and 69. He is the King of Glory in Psalm 24. He is the perfect man in Psalm 8 and the Mighty God of Psalm 45. Almost every one of the Psalms' has a prophetic overtone, many of them plainly messianic.

In Proverbs he is wisdom incarnate.

In Ecclesiastes, that sad book of worldly wisdom, he is the forgotten wise man who saved the city.

In the Song of Solomon he is the Shepherd who won the Shulamite’s heart and who triumphs over all the blandishments of the world.

In Isaiah He is the Lamb, led to the slaughter in chapter 53 and the one who treads the winepress. In chapter 63 He is the Messiah of a hundred hopes and longings in stanza after stanza of the book.

In Jeremiah he is the great suffer and the Lord our Righteousness.

In Lamentations he is again the one acquainted with grief.

In Ezekiel he sits on the throne.

In Daniel he is the stone cut out without hands.

In Hosea he is the forgiving, longsuffering husband and David’s far greater king.

In Joel he pours out his spirit on all flesh.

In Amos he stands on the altar, he sifts the house of Israel, and he brings in millennium blessing at last.

In Obadiah he ushers in the dreaded "Day of the Lord" and stands on Mount Zion.

In Jonah, he is prefigured in his death, burial, and resurrection.

In Micah he is seen as the one to be born at Bethlehem and as the one who will bring millennium blessing to humankind; also he is the Great Shepherd and the one who pardons iniquity.

In Nahum he is the great avenger before whom the mountains quake, but a stronghold and a refuge to his own.

In Habakkuk he is the holy one of Israel and his people’s strength and song.

In Zephaniah he brings in kingdom blessing.

In Haggai he builds again the temple of the Lord, shakes the nations, and is the chosen of the Lord.

In Zechariah He brings in the apocalypse, as the great high priest, pours out the Spirit of the Lord upon men, He is the headstone of the corner. He is the great judge. He rides into Jerusalem on a colt, is sold for the price of a slave, opens a fountain for uncleanness in Jerusalem, is the Branch and the Coming King of Kings.

In Malachi His coming is heralded by a forerunner, and he is the Sun of Righteousness.

In Matthew he is the King of the Jews. In Mark he is the Servant of Jehovah.

In Luke he is the Son of Man. In John he is the Son of God.

In Acts he is the Ascended Head of the Church.

In Romans he is our Righteousness.

In Corinthians he is the First fruits from the dead.

In Galatians He is the End of the Law.

In Ephesians He is all in all to his church, foundation for the building, head of the body, bridegroom of our hearts.

In Philippians He is in the form of God and the one who supplies all our needs.

In Colossians He is the Creator, Sustainer and Owner of the universe, Pre-eminent over all.

In 1 Thessalonians He comes again for his church.

In 2 Thessalonians He comes to judge the world.

In 1 Timothy He is the one mediator between God and man.

In 2 Timothy He is the judge of the living and the dead.

In Hebrews He is the great anti-type of all types: Son, Priest, Sacrifice, Heir, greater than Aaron or Melchisedec, greater than Moses or Joshua, greater than angels, Son of God and Son of Man.

In James He is the Lord of Sabbath and the one who heals.

In 1 Peter He is our Inheritance and the Shepherd of our souls.

In 2 Peter He is the one from the Excellent Glory.

In 1 John He is the Incarnate Word.

In 2 John He is the one who prospers our souls and for whose name’s sake the Gospel is preached.

In Jude He is the preserver, the only Lord God, the only wise God, our Saviour, Glorious in majesty.

In Revelation He is the King soon to come, who even today upholds all things by the Word of His Power, the one who stands astride all the factors and forces of space and time and who bends all things to His Sovereign Will.

The very first prophecy in the Bible is of Him, and speaks of both his comings. The last prophecy in the Bible speaks of Him and his coming again. The Prophets spoke of His Virgin Birth, of the Royal House of David, of the tribe of Judah, in Bethlehem. They spoke of His forerunner, they spoke of His sinless life, His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver, His death by crucifixion, His burial in a rich man’s tomb, His resurrection, and His coming again to reign in power and glory.

In many an Old Testament story he is pictured in type and shadow. The story of Noah’s ark is a case in point. God offered Salvation.

God offered salvation, full and free to all who would make the decision and enter the ark by faith. All that was required was a step of faith. The ark was to be a refuge from the coming wrath. It was the ark that bore the brunt and fury of the storm. Those who accepted the salvation God had provided were safe. Not a single drop of judgement water fell on them. The ark carried them safely to the shores of another world on the other side judgement. All this of course, pictures Christ as the hymn writer says:

The Passover, the various offerings, stories from the life of David, Ruth; countless other Old Testament histories all contain these pictures of him.

D. We meet Jesus in Person!

We read the gospels and trace the story of His coming, His character, His career, and His cross. We see him as God manifest in flesh.

Never less than God but ever and always man, as God always intended man to be: inhabited by God. We see his miracles, listen to his parables, marvel at his goodness, thrill to his love. We see him as Prophet, Priest and King.

In story after story he told about himself. He is the Good Shepherd in the story of the sheep that went astray and the King in the parable of the sheep and the goats. He is the Bridegroom in the story of wise and foolish virgins, and the sower in the story of the seed and the soil. He is the merchant seeking goodly pearls, the man who found the treasure in his field, the Son sent to negotiate with the keepers of the vineyard. He is the Good Samaritan on the road to Jericho and the King who went to a distant shore to receive a Kingdom.

In the preaching of Peter, James, and John, in the preaching of John the Baptist, in the preaching of the Apostle Paul, and in his own preaching. He is the True Vine, The Door, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. He is the Light of the World, the Bread from Heaven. He is the only name under heaven given among man whereby we must be saved. He is the Stone rejected by the builders. He is the Lamb led to the slaughter, the one who so intrigued the Ethiopian eunuch. He is the unknown God of the Athenians. He is the Lord from heaven who met Paul on the Damascus road, and the one on whom the Philippian Jailer believed.

We meet him in power in the apocalypse which from first to last is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ" Rev.1 v 1. He is seen standing in the midst of the lamp-stands, stepping into the spotlight of eternity to receive the seven-sealed scroll. He it is who rides the star-strewn pathways of the sky on a great white horse to make man meet his maker at Megiddo. He it is who sits on the Great White Throne and holds his last assize. He is the Lamb who is all the Glory of Immanuels Land. He is the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.

Turn where you will in the sacred library, and the Holy Spirit will point you to Jesus. Why should we Ponder the Word? Ah, dear folks because we will meet again and again Jesus Christ.

You see dear folks; I believe that is the answer to the dilemma of today. The irony and dilemma of today is that we have lost track of time! That is God’s time! You see God’s Word is God’s timepiece and if we take time to ponder it you will become aware of God’s clock.

We have the most elaborate time keeping devices we have ever had; yet we are a generation completely ignorant of the answer to one little question!

What time is it? And friends, it’s time to work for God, it’s time to seek the Lord, it’s time to wake up. One thing is certain; it’s later than we think.

It’s about time for God to intervene, to straighten out the iniquities and inequities of this Sodom and Gomorrah.

It’s time for God to judge this generation that has laughed in his face, pronounced him dead, denied his word, disowned his son, and turned his holy day into a holiday.

It’s time for God to show up the blind leaders of the blind and what is worse, the bland leaders of the bland, who go about dusting off sin with a powder puff and spreading cold cream on the cancers of sin.

It’s about time for our younger generation to turn back to that old verse in the old book. Eccl.11 v 9.

Stop fooling about without God! For although you might think the way your going looks and sounds alright, if you keep on the way that seems right to you, God will one day judge you!

Give God the best years of your life; don’t give Him the leftovers.

I should have been a better Christian by now! I should have been a better preacher by now, I should have been a better man by now and I have wasted too much time by far doing what I wanted to do instead of what God told me to do.

It’s time for all of us young or older, to seek the Lord. Too many Christians and churches have begun in the spirit and are trying to perfect themselves in the flesh.

Too many methods have been borrowed from the world. David is hauling the ark on a new cart these days; the spirit of the shop has invaded the sanctuary.

Corporation methods have taken the place of consecrated men and women. Human business has supplanted the father’s business!

I like that forgotten phrase in my old bible, "break up the fallow ground" Jer.4 v 3, Hosea 10 v 12.

If you grew up in the country you will know that that is ground that has lain idle and undisturbed and uncultivated.

All it produces is weeds, briars and brambles and it’s not producing anything worth while because it is lying undisturbed.

Human hearts can get like that! And who was it warned us about that very thing? Why Jesus. In Mark 4, in the parable of the Sower, Seed and the Soil, He said we are like unprepared ground, uncultivated ground, unacceptable ground, or maybe we are unreserved ground!

And quite frankly dear friends, the question begs an answer, will we ever see another revival in such a shallow generation.

Well we can, if we break up the fallow ground and walk with Jesus through his word.

Sometimes the medicine bottle will say, "shake well". Maybe that is what God needs to do with us these days, shake well before use!

That sharp plough blade must be put in deep into the soil of the human heart if we are to have another harvest, there must be a breaking of that fallow ground!

Don’t wait for some lovely feeling to come over you, it never will! For many it never comes, they end up with only bitter feelings, a lonely and frustrated spirit, critical of everyone and everything!

I don’t want to end a bitter Christian; I want to be useful all my life. How do we escape this bitterness and be useful? Walk with the Lord in the light of his Word, and oh, what a glory he will shine on your way!

Why, we would scarcely ever unite those two, statues and song!

We are pilgrims and strangers in this world and this is the house of our pilgrimage, and we should be able to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

We are citizens of heaven making our way through earth.

Remember Psalm 137. Israel had been taken captive. As they sat by the rivers of Babylon their captors said, sing us a song, a song of mirth or a song of Zion. Sing us a happy song or a holy song! But they could sing neither, why? They had lost their song.

And many a Christian has lost their song and doesn't know it.

Why? Because they have long since lost the art of pondering the scriptures.

Now we do not worship the Bible for that would be Bibliolatry, but it is the only authorised textbook of our faith.

This book is God breathed and when we explore it we should feel like J.B.Phillips put it. When one is wiring an old house where the power is not switched of, you either get a charge or a shock, for it is wired from heaven!

Now please don’t misquote me please.

There are no spiritual Christians who neglect the Word of God!

I did not say there are no Christians who neglect the Word of God.

I did not say there are no church going Christians who neglect the Word of God.

I did not say there are no Bible carrying Christians who neglect the Word of God.

I said, there are no Spiritual Christians who neglect the Word of God! It is impossible for a Christian to grow to maturity who neglects the Word of God!

Some say today, I want a word of comfort, help, and encouragement.

Listen, "faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God"

Question! If there are as many Christians as statistics suggest, and if the Christian is light and salt. Why so much darkness and so much corruption?

Why so much bad behaviour in churches?

Because God's Wordbook is not our songbook.

Ponder it that it be a song in your hearts and the hearts of others!

Your theology must have doxology if it is going to be a help to yourself and to others.

That sounds a little bit like today's climate, but beloved we have the responsibility and opportunity to change things and the more we Ponder The Word the more effective our life will be with others.