Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Scripture:  Isaiah 8:16 (NIV):  "Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples."

Thought:  To me, we can never overestimate the value or power of God's Word.

Question:  Am I a disciple who "binds up" and "seals up" God's Word?

To prevent the stumbling and falling, entrapment and ensnaring we have seen in the previous verses, we now have the prophet's wise advice:  "bind up the testimony and seal up the law."  Always, God provides His people with the opportunity to avoid failure and/or a way to recover from failure.  And, quite often, we see the solution is found in our relationship to His Word.  The words "testimony" and "law" clearly remind us of God's Word.  

"Bind up the testimony":  to bind something is to prevent its loss.  It is to tie it closely to yourself so that when you move, it moves; when you walk, it walks with you; when you run, it stays with you.  A "testimony" is a spoken record of personal value.  God's Word becomes helpful to us only when it is personally valuable--otherwise it is merely a collection of empty syllables.  We are to keep God's Words so close and so "one with" us that we value them and suffer at their loss. 

"...and seal up the law":  to seal something is to secure it, as with a promise.  A seal reminds us that we are dealing with issues of trust.  We can implicitly trust God's Word!  God's Word has been called many things, but here it is referred to as "law."  Laws are rules of conduct.  We are to promise to obey God's rules of conduct within a relationship of trust with Him.

And so we readily see how to counteract the stumbling and falling, entrapment and ensnaring of the evil one.  

The "we" of this verse is also clear:  "...among my disciples."  Disciples are true and loyal followers--they are learners under the instruction of the master.  If we follow God, in and through Jesus Christ, we must be rightly related to God's Word!

Prayer:  Lord God, strengthen me to remain loyal always to Your Word!  May I bind it to myself in daily reading, memorization and meditation.  May I personalize it to my specific needs.  May I entrust myself to You by showing I am willing to obey what Your Word lays out for me.  Amen.  

• Main
• archives
• Albums
• Links
• Admin
• Send us a story!
• Summary-Blog Directory

• Isaiah - Day 183
• Isaiah - Day 182
• Isaiah - Day 181
• Isaiah - Day 180
• Isaiah - Day 179
• Isaiah - Day 178
• Isaiah - Day 177
• Isaiah - Day 176
• Isaiah - Day 175
• Isaiah - Day 174

• General [338]

• RSS 0.90
• RSS 1.0
• RSS 2.0
• Atom