When my family lived in Kelowna during the duplex days, so I was younger than 5, I was given a little white Bible with a shiny, bumpy cover and colour illustrations of Jesus smattered throughout. The onion skin pages crinkled when I turned them and the writing looked especially black against the page. How I wished I could read because somehow I knew that true beauty could be found in these words .
That Bible is long gone, regrettably, but my love for God’s Word grows more compelling every day.
Why should it, really? Isn’t the Bible just a book? Yes, it’s a tangible piece of work, with concreteness and weight. The words themselves are old; really old. Nothing special, right? That’s what one might think.
The marvel is in its aliveness. I wonder how it can speak into my immediate circumstance with such relevance. It says itself that the power behind it is Spirit-driven, God-breathed and that makes a lot of sense. How else, really?
In many ways God’s Word is like my kitchen garden. The seeds are sown, settle into the soil, are warmed by the air, fed by the sun and watered by the rains of life. In response food and flowers grow; that is the mysterious, miraculous part.
Have you heard the saying, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”? Truly, the words I find in my Bible feed me, nourish me, cultivate health and vitality in me, and give a sense of inclusion in creation itself.
“In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden in your life.” James 1:21
Your GREAT LOVE for His word is such an inspiration!
Enjoyed this blog entry. Great to read.