I like to read. It’s weird to read those first four words I just typed, because I definitely did not enjoy reading in the past. As a kid growing up I found pleasure in hockey and hockey and… hockey. That was about it. Every day as I rode the school bus from my farm into the city where I attended school I daydreamed about hockey. When I was at school I daydreamed about hockey and when given reading assignments I read hockey books and when given writing assignments I wrote about hockey and when given art assignments I drew or painted pictures that mainly had to do with you guessed it, hockey. When it came to Math, Social Studies and Science I couldn’t really tweak my assigenments in any way to deal with hockey but you get the picture. If I were to list my hobbies as a young boy they wouldn’t comprise of a list because a list can’t really be only one item.

But, now as a young man I am glad to say that I have a list and that hockey isn’t even at the top. So with all that said, I like to read. But, the funny thing is, my reading list is a lot like that hobby list I had as a kid, it isn’t much of a list either because it comprises of one subject: Jesus. I like to read about Jesus. I read the Bible, I read books about Theology, Christian Living, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Ministy, Discipleship, Missions, Christian Poetry, Preaching, Biographies, the Church and the list goes on; but they all sit under the major heading of Jesus and/or the Gospel (the good news).

Because of the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ and the impact and transformation that has happened in my life I don’t want to be caught up in anything other than what has to do with Him. This doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally read other things because I do. This doesn’t mean that I don’t watch hockey anymore, because I do. This just means, that my desire is not to be distracted to the point where Jesus is not preeminent or number one in my life. When God gave Moses the ten commandments on Mount Sinai in Exodus 20, the first thing he said to Moses and the first thing on that list that He said to His people and the first thing He tells us is this: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

Right now I am reading a few different books and included in those books is an awesome book called “Big God” by Britt Merrick. I got this book for Christmas from my cousins and I have just gotten to it recently, but it is a gem. Britt Merrick is a pastor in California, he’s a great Preacher, author and self-proclaimed “surf-board shaper” as he states on his twitter page. In the first chapter of his book he talks about a tragedy that struck his family, his little girl Daisy Love was diagnosed with Cancer at the age of five. In this first chapter he talks about the fact that it is so important to have God’s Word hidden in your heart and to be saturated in it because that is the foundation to draw from and the comfort when the storms of life and the hard times come your way.

I love how even in just the first chapter, Britt mentions so much Scripture and why it is so important. It is such an encouragement to press on get in God’s Word and study and know it. He mentions an awesome verse found in Colossians 3:16 and you can read a portion of it at the top of this blog. It says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” I love that, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” those are powerful and sweet words.

So what does “dwell richly” mean?

I sometimes look at “The Message” by Eugene Peterson just to see how has translated certain verses into contemporary language. Now, “The Message” isn’t a literal translation, but it is still sometimes helpful to look at. There are some passages that I don’t enjoy in The Message, but there are some that just speak well to me in the language I speak in. Peterson translates Colossians 3:16 like this:

“Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.”

I like that, I think he puts it well. In John Calvin’s commentary on this passage he says this: “He would have the doctrine of the gospel be familiarly known by them… For, unquestionably, Paul here addresses men and women of all ranks; nor would he simply have them take a slight taste merely of the word of Christ, but exhorts that it should dwell in them; that is, that it should have a settled abode, and that largely, that they may make it their aim to advance and increase more and more every day.”

“Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament” states this about Paul’s words:  “Dwell in” is enoikeō (ἐνοικεω). The word oikos (οἰκος) means “a home.” Oikeō (Ὀικεω) means “to live in a home.” The exhortation is to the effect that the Christian is to so yield himself to the Word that there is a certain at-homenes of the Word in his being. The Word should be able to feel al home in his heart. The saint should give it unrestricted liberty in his life. “Richly” is plousiōs (πλουσιως), “abundantly.” Not only must the saint be yielded to the Word, but he must have a good knowledge of it. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God that we know as He talks to us and guides our lives. He can efficiently talk to us to the extent to which know the Word. That is the language He uses.”

So, that gives some insight as to what Paul meant when he said “dwell richly.” Paul was telling us to be at home in the Word and that the Word should be at home in us and that we should give ourselves to the study of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what I give my life to and what I strive for. I enjoy playing and watching and talking hockey, but I am at home in God’s Word.