“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls”
and receive
The word “receive” in “receive with meekness” means to welcome. The idea is to appropriate God’s Word, to apply it to one’s soul so as to welcome it into our being.
“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
Principle:
Dynamic spiritual growth comes when we welcome what the Word has to say to us.
Application:
Receiving the Word is far more than listening to it. Many people listen to the Word, but it never grabs them or changes them. When we approach the Bible with a volition that is open to God, He will effectively work in our life.
“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
