Letter To Our Children
by Pastor Joe | May 4, 2022 | Letters To Our Children
May 4, 2022
Keys open doors; keywords open minds, and through minds' hearts.
From the introduction of JI Packer’s book, 18 Words.
Let there be light.
The very first words spoken on this planet from Genesis 1:3 said by God.
It is written.
Jesus' first words in the temptations by the Evil One Matthew 4:4
Hello Friends!
Words are not magic. Words are the building blocks of language. God gave us the gifts of words to think, speak, inform, and explain. He was the first to use them. He gave words to us to help us think about Him and worship Him.
Words reveal minds—what people are thinking. Words reveal emotions—what people are feeling. Words reveal passions—what people are wanting and needing, and the Bible is a book filled with words. The Bibles we use at church have 727,969 words!
The Bible is, very simply, God communicating in words, God talking, teaching, preaching: God telling you-yes, you, me, and everyone who reads the Bible and hears the Bible taught things about Himself which call for faith, decision, worship, obedience, joy, prayer, praise, concentration, practice, repentance, and humility.
Taken from this angle, the Bible is the most up-to-date and important book that sits on my desk. Every word tells, every word matters, every word in it is not only words from God but the highest and best word in the matter being spoken to.
Think of it like this. If your parents ask you to clean your room and you tell them no. But they reply to your no with a yes. You know that their yes has more authority than your no. It’s the same with the Bible.
Accordingly, the gift of words is a big deal! God’s word – is an even bigger deal! And be thankful that you have a Bible. Only in the last four hundred years has it been possible for the average person to have their own copy of the Bible. In the sixteenth century, it was the combination of the invention of the printing press that made the Bible available; and the Protestant Reformation that gave the Bible preimience. The kind of access we enjoy to the Bible has not always been the case.
It is written
So is the Bible God’s word? Three simple words settled the matter for Jesus and the apostles who said them. Around ninety-one times, the words 'it is written' appear in the New Testament. Their line of thought is simple—if Scripture said it, then God said it. What is written comes from the mouth of God is how Jesus addressed the biggest liar in the universe, the Devil, in His temptation. Therefore, each one of those 727, 969 words in the Bible is His word. God is behind all of them. But it is not that every one of the words is truthful. Job’s friends said untruthful things about Job. The Pharisees said the same about Jesus. Rather, it’s that the Bible is true. What they said was recorded as God wanted them to be.
Maybe This Will Help
Because God gives us words in the Bible, may I suggest the following helps as you study the Bible.
- Develop some kind of system of notetaking. It will help your memory.
- Read with pencil/pen/paper, smartphone, or tablet in hand. Whatever will help you best in your notetaking.
- Have a copybook, journal, or what I like to call a black book. In it, record what is interesting, helpful, something worthy to remember or give a second thought.
- When you come to a word you don't understand or don't know the meaning of, stop and use a dictionary.
- Be happy in your reading even as you have a serious mind. Reading the Bible is a privilege, not a burden.
- Pray before you read, asking God to help you. Pray after you read, thanking God for the help He gave.
May God give us the grace to keep reading, believing, and learning from our Bibles- His word.
God bless you and help this week in everything.
Pastor Joe