Resource Center Ministry Highlight – Cory Mattson

  Posted on August 6, 2021  by   No comments

Resource Center Ministry Highlight

“Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”    Jeremiah 15:16

Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah during the years of its final downfall leading to the Babylonian exile.  God called him to be a prophet at a young age, during King Josiah’s reign (the last God-fearing king of Judah) and through the evil kings that followed.  The Lord gave Jeremiah many words to speak to the people—difficult, heart-crushing words where God laid out the charges against Judah for their sin and warnings of the sure destruction to come.  He also gave Jeremiah words to remind the people who He was – His attributes and ways, His trustworthiness and justice and holiness.  But God also gave Jeremiah hopeful words to speak about what He would do in the future, words to comfort those who still trusted in Him.  Though these words caused Jeremiah much heartache and many tears, he took them inside his mind and heart, submitted himself to the Lord’s sovereign wisdom, spoke them out as commanded, and found joy and delight in the Sovereign Lord who had called Jeremiah to himself. 

Since God doesn’t change, and His Word doesn’t change, His words are intended to have the same effect on us today.  But do they?  Perhaps the answer depends on whether or not we seek the revelation of God in His words, find them and “eat” them.  By eating them we ingest God’s words, digest them through pondering and meditating while asking the Spirit of God to give us understanding, and making them our own as we submit to the changes in our thoughts and actions that the Word and Spirit lead us to.  Then, if we share this process and truth with others, God’s word goes deeper into us and out from us! 

As I’ve been engaged in homeschooling our grandson the past three years, I’ve learned much about a practice called narration.  Narration is the process of taking in ideas and information from readings, thinking the ideas through and making them your own, then retelling it to someone else.  This sounds easy but have you tried that lately?  I’ve read countless books that I’ve enjoyed and been moved by, but in attempting to explain the book to another person, I stumble over the ideas and details.  Or if the book gets put down for a time and eventually picked up again to resume, it seems as if I’ve never even read a single page.  Can you relate?  Had I taken the time to narrate it – bit by bit – even just to myself, I feel sure it would have taken up a more permanent place in my memory.

God’s words are so precious and life-changing, whether we read them (first and foremost) in the Scriptures or in a book written about the Scriptures.  These are the words that truly feed our soul, the ones we most need to find and eat, that we might find our greatest joy and delight in Him. 

The Resource Center at New Life is filled with books that help us focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the glorious attributes of God, in many different genres including some great fiction.  Our books and CD’s are available to purchase, and we can special order resources on request. Team members are will be available to handle purchases just before service starts and right after service ends on Sundays. Currently I am reading (along with a group of women on Tuesday mornings) a book called “Risen Motherhood,” which shows us how the gospel applies to all the various aspects of raising children.  You’ll find many books to help you apply the gospel to all aspects of life … and don’t we all need help with that?  For many years in my Christian walk, I used to think the gospel only applied to salvation … that kind of thinking caused me to miss out on so much of Christ’s glorious sufficiency!   I praise God that He didn’t leave me in that place! 

Not everyone enjoys reading.  For some, reading is hard work, requiring extreme focus and effort to comprehend what is read.  It is often easier to watch a screen or listen to the spoken word.   For others, it’s a matter of the distractions of life and work and social media.  But for all of us, the Word of God is vital to our well-being.  I encourage us all to find it, eat it, make it your own as you submit to God’s work in you, and find joy and delight in the Lord our God!

Cory Mattson