Submitted by: Donna Bahler

Seeing God change my heart toward His Word is one of the marks of the supernatural in my life. Certainly in younger years I could not have said that I loved His Word and time in it.

As I look back, I see several things that helped build my appetite and love for the Word of God:

• When younger, I knew Christ as Savior, but less as Lord, and even less as the One who came not only to die for me but to live in and through me. I did not yet understand the Holy Spirit’s role as the transforming power source, the One who helps us understand and respond in obedience to the Word of God and through it to meet with God Himself. Learning to yield to the Spirit’s direction and power were and are key to understanding and loving the Word of God. I never outgrow the need to intentionally depend on Him as I approach the Scriptures.
• Another huge factor was seeing others’ enthusiasm for God’s Word, and learning from their lives as they studied and applied it. Those who discipled me played a major role in helping me see the importance of the Scriptures, and the joy that comes from studying and obeying them. I continue to love hearing what others are learning as they spend time with God in His Word.
• I’ve also seen that an appetite for Scripture has to be both developed and fed. It’s much like eating in the physical realm. Moms try to limit the junk food their children have for a reason. Besides the obvious health issues, it can also develop an appetite for less-than-great-for you items. It can take work to develop enthusiasm in a child—or adult!—for food that actually meets the body’s needs. At times, it comes down not to feeling enthusiastic about eating a particular thing, but choosing it for its benefits, rather than trying to fill up on what is easy or entertaining or seems more appealing.

We never outgrow the need for fresh feedings on God’s Word and for the intimate time with Him that it helps give us. It never fails to amaze me that He wants time with me—and with every child of His—and that He has revealed to us so much about Himself and His plan of the ages in this Book of books. 

Resources:

• Go through Psalm 119, noting all the benefits of studying the Scriptures and letting God’s Word work in you.
• While reading large portions of Scripture is important for the big picture, we can miss a lot of details that are important for our understanding. A word study can help, when done in the context of what you are reading. Use a concordance. A simple one in the back of your Bible can get you started. An online concordance or a hard copy like Strong's Exhaustive Concordance are also available. Cross-references, if your Bible has those, can be helpful for a more intensive study.