The academic and the bon vivant

Imagine two men came to each give you a talk on fine wines of the world. The first man is exceptionally well-read, and has consumed several books on the subject. He can talk to you about the variants of vines that are planted, the orientation and elevation of the vineyard that the wine has come from, the type of the soil that the vines have grown in. However, he has never tasted any of the wines himself.

The second man is less well-read. He hasn't got the level of knowledge of the first man of the acidity of the soil, or the way in which the wine is matured. However what he has done is he has drunk all of the finest wines in the world and so his talk talks about the taste, the complexity and the joy of these fine wines.

Which of these two talks would give you a greater passion for fine wine? I would have thought the second, and I think that the same applies to preaching even more closely. It is very easy (especially for someone like myself) become concerned with reading books on the subject, but not becoming acquainted with the subject - God himself who lies behind the pages. If I however spend my preparation time "living" with the passage, then I'll be better equipped to teach God's word as one who has seen the joy of living out the truths in the passage and one who knows the richness of the word lived out.

Father, help me to be a man who doesn't think study of your word begins in the office, but starts in my own heart, and one who speaks firstly to myself before I dare relate your word to others.

Amen