Time Spent in the Word is Never Wasted

Ephesians 5:26 (New King James Version)
²⁶ that He might ^[a]sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

 Have you ever spent time reading the Word of God and come away thinking, well that was a waste; thoughts like “I couldn’t concentrate” or “I couldn’t understand what I just read” seems to flood your mind.  If we were totally honest, we would probably have to admit it happens more frequently than we would like it to. If that describes you, here’s an important encouragement for you: your time spent in the Word is never wasted.

A well-known minister of the Gospel recently addressed this issue of struggling to feel like we are gaining what we should during our times spent in the Word. He related a story (probably just an illustration) of a father who asked His son to take a weathered basket to a nearby creek and bring it back with water in it. The boy did as his father asked but when he returned, the basket was empty because the basket was porous. His father instructed him to return to the creek, to fill the basket with water and bring it to him a second time. And again, the results were the same – no water.  The father asked him to take the basket to the creek a third time to get water; with the results being the same as before. The son was quite disappointed and told the father he was sorry he had failed. At that point the father told him he had not failed, that the basket which had originally been weathered and dirty was now sparkling clean. What the son saw as a failure, the father saw as a success.

It is always about perspective – not just what you see, but how you see it. The boy had one outcome in mind; the father, another. There is a valuable spiritual lesson in this illustration. We should never assume that because we did not come away from our Bible-reading time with a new revelation or even a basic understanding of what we read, that it was not time well-spent.

 Two scriptures reveal to us that something happens every time we read the Word. First, we must realize that the Word of God is inherently powerful in and of itself. Hebrews 4:12a (Amplified Classic) states: ¹² For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. That means when we spend time in the Word, the very power of the Word begins working in our lives whether we feel it or not. It is like a hot electrical line. There is power flowing even though we don’t see it.

Secondly, according to Ephesians 5:26, there is a process called “the washing of water by the word.” The Word of God has a cleansing element to it and whenever the Word goes forth a cleansing effect occurs.  The outgrowth of that cleansing is found in 2 Corinthians 3:18; we are changed from glory to glory into the image of Christ.

Isn’t God good? He knew that His children would struggle to understand His Word from time to time. So, He put into His Word the power to impact us when we read His Word whether we feel like we understand it or not. In addition, He provided for that Word to “cleanse” us when we read it. In both cases, the Word is at work in us whenever we take the time to read it. Only a good, good Father would make sure that His kids came away from spending time with Him in the Word BLESSED!

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