The grand design of Scripture is not merely to inform, but to transform--not to fill the mind only, but to bring the will into glad submission to God. The one who truly profits from the Word is the one who is brought into a life of increasing obedience to its precepts. Anything less than this is self-deception. As our Lord solemnly warned, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven." (Matthew 7:21) Obedience is not optional in the Christian life--it is essential. It is the evidence of a heart made alive by grace. The Scriptures were not given to be admired from a distance, or merely studied as literature, but to be obeyed in the power of the Spirit. To profit from the Word, is to have its commands inscribed upon the heart, and worked out into the life by cheerful obedience. When the soul is brought under the rule of Scripture, obedience ceases to be a burden and becomes a delight. The believer no longer picks and chooses what to follow, but bows to all that God has spoken. Like Abraham, he obeys not knowing where it will lead. (Hebrews 11:8) Like David, he prays, "Teach me, O Lord, to follow Your decrees; then I will keep them to the end." (Psalm 119:33) And like Jesus he declares, "I have come to do Your will, O God." (Hebrews 10:7) This obedience is neither forced nor meritorious. It is the grateful response of a redeemed heart. It is the Spirit-wrought fruit of the new birth. The more the believer feeds upon the Word, the more he comes to love the God of the Word--and love always expresses itself in willing submission. "This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His c