He said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” ( Deuteronomy 32:46 46 And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, `even' all the words of this law. –47)

The word of God is not a trifle; it is a matter of life and death. If you treat the Scriptures as a trifle or as empty words, you forfeit life.

Even our physical life depends on God’s word, because by his word we were created ( Psalms 33:6 6 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. ; Hebrews 11:3 3 By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. ), and “He upholds the universe by the word of his power” ( Hebrews 1:3 3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; ).

Our spiritual life begins by the word of God: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” ( James 1:18 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ). “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God” ( 1 Peter 1:23 23 having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth. ).

Not only do we begin to live by God’s word, but we also go on living by God’s word: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” ( Matthew 4:4 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ; Deuteronomy 8:3 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live. ).

Our physical life is created and upheld by the word of God, and our spiritual life is quickened and sustained by the word of God. How many stories could be gathered to bear witness to the life-giving power of the word of God!

Indeed, the Bible is “no empty word for you” — it is your life! The foundation of all joy is life. Nothing is more fundamental than sheer existence — our creation and our preservation.

All this is owing to the word of God’s power. By that same power, he has spoken in Scripture for the creation and sustenance of our spiritual life. Therefore, the Bible is no empty word, but is your very life — the kindling of your joy!