The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Every Page. Every Word."
It could be said that all Scripture constitutes an invitation by the heart of God to our hearts that we come to Him for living relationship and fellowship through the Lord Jesus Christ. By His Word, our Heavenly Father ever seeks to deliver us from our native tendency to join Adam and Eve, who hid in the trees from God after their sin, rather than seek the only One who could help and redeem them (Genesis 3:8).
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16).
Every page of the Bible affirms the truth of our desperate need to relate to God in love, truth, faith, and sincere devotion. Even more, all Scripture reveals the wonder of His great desire for fellowship with us. Those same pages counter the lie that someone or something else can fulfill our hearts as the Life of our lives. Be it doctrine, history, promise, command, biography, genealogy, promise, warning, or prophecy, "every word of God is pure" in the primary purpose of our Heavenly Father drawing us unto Himself for mutual joy in relationship (Proverbs 30:5).
A good friend illustrated this truth. Many years ago in a hotel room, he read a passage in the gospel of Matthew that contains one of the genealogies found in the Bible. He thought to himself and expressed to the Lord that he didn't know how he could learn anything from the list of figures with unknown histories and strange names. Immediately, however, he came upon the mention of Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israeli spies and came to trust in the living and true God. "The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" she confessed (Joshua 2:11). The light of God's grace shined into my friend's heart and mind as he realized that even the most seemingly innocuous of Scriptural passages bear the truth of God's redemption through Christ, and His beckoning of our hearts. Indeed, Rahab represents every rebellious sinner who becomes a redeemed saint through Christ. She did not deserve to have a place in the bloodline of the Messiah. Nor do we deserve a place in His spiritual family as those who began earthly life as rebels, but who were birthed into Heavenly life as the sons and daughters of God in Christ. God's grace nevertheless shines to us through Scripture, illuminating His great desire for our family relationship with Himself as His "dear children" (Ephesians 5:1).
Every page and every word of the Bible serve as portals whereby God beckons us into sublime fellowship with Himself. Every page. Every word. We may only glean glimmers of the infinitely bright light that shines in the gift of Scripture as we presently "see through a glass darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12). We nevertheless approach the Word of God as the invitation written in blood, Christ's blood, to our hearts - "Come unto Me" (Matthew 11:28). Thus, we open the Bible in the realization that it is not only a book. It is also a voice, the voice of the Spirit of God who inspired every sacred word with the sublime intention of drawing us into fellowship with the Father through the Lord Jesus. Every page and every word bear this divine intent. Every page. Every word. May they lead to our chosen intention to respond.
"Let Thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even Thy salvation, according to Thy Word."
(Psalm 119:41)
"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth."
(John 17:17)
Weekly Memory Verse
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
(Psalm 145:17).
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