The Word of God is a vast and rich well of revelation into God's nature and character. A lifetime of study would still not be sufficient to comprehend and measure the greatness of its wealth or abundance. Through study and meditation, guided by the Spirit and sound teachers, readers are given a glimpse into the Lord's character, His very nature.
All this requires delving into the Bible consistently so as to pursue comprehending its depth. However, intellectual ascension to the theological truth of the Word is not enough. Orthodoxy, in reference to theological truth, refers to sound and right doctrine. Being a full-devoted follower of Christ has much to do with orthodoxy i.e. believing sound, right doctrine. But orthodoxy is useless without orthopraxy, the actual practice of right doctrine.
On more than one occasion, Jesus reminded us that it is not the hearers of the Word that are truly His, but the doers of the Word (Matt. 7:21, 24-27; Luke 8:21; John 3:17). Becoming doers of the Word means that our identities are so intimately and intricately intertwined with the Word, that we cannot but live it out: orthopraxy.
Paul and James also exhort believers to do the Word (Rom 2:13; James 1:22). Living out Christianity is not merely spiritual and intellectual ascent to theological truth, far from it. Rather, living out Christianity the way Jesus intended is about practice. We need to practice the orthodoxy that we hold so dear. If we do not practice, truly live out, the theology that we believe and think, then we are not fully committing ourselves to the Lord, body, mind, and soul.
Let us strive, seek after opportunities to serve, to love, and to give. When we seek Him and His kingdom first, then we know will live out, practice, obedience through action. Praise be to God that He would work in us so transformationally as to allow us, imperfect fleshly vessels, to be the conduits by which He loves and cares for the world!
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