This 14th verse:
To make every effort;
to be diligent He says.
Be diligent.
And in what direction?
Well, you've got to seek food for your souls.
You've got to get away...
to a conference;
travel a long distance to be here.
Drive 15 hours.
Drive through the night.
Drive just to be here.
And search for things that can nourish you
and build up your knowledge
and your graciousness.
You don't want to be unfruitful
and static, but there's a dynamism,
and a maturing, and a beauty;
and a fragrance,
and a loveliness about your life.
You're seeking for truths that will do that;
that will produce love,
and joy, and peace,
and long-suffering, and gentleness,
and goodness, and faithfulness,
and meekness, and self-control.
You've got to fall in love with the Bible.
You've got to search it.
You've got to ransack it.
You've got to sit under the best ministry
you can on a Sunday.
You've got to read the best books.
You've got to sit and listen
to older Christians as they talk together
and they reminisce
about how God has dealt with them over the years.
And learn from them the mysterious influence
that one Christian can have over another.
You seek good fellowship
with other Christians,
and you hunger after truth.
You want the Word of God to come
not in word only,
but in power and the Holy Spirit
and much assurance.
Fall in love.
Meditate upon Scripture.
And, praying Scripture.
So you read a verse like this,
"But grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior," and you say,
"Lord, me too. I want to grow.
I want to grow.
This week, I've got a special time here;
special privileges.
Help me to grow
in the grace and knowledge of my Savior,
Jesus Christ."
Because your souls won't grow
without food.
And there's no food for the soul
like the Word of God.
There's no place to be better
than before the face of Jesus Christ.
Taken from the 2018 Fellowship Conference.