I Love this Word!

It's like fresh bread, dropped from heaven for our sustenance and delight.

It's like a hammer, that breaks the rocks of resistance in our lives to pieces, if we let it. (Or we can throw away the hammer. Re-think it. Re-word it. Re-move its hardness…to our own loss.)Jer.23:29

It is like a sword, a fine-tuned sharp sword, slicing through our delusions, pointing out our motives, opening our abscesses for cleaning out. Heb.4:12

It is like a fire that burns away the lies we have believed and leaves us purified, pure gold and untarnished silver. Jer.23:29

It is a light in dark places, a beaming torchlight making our way plain, showing up the tripping hazards, allowing us to walk in this world without falling Ps.119:105, II Pet.1:19

It is like water, cleansing, refreshing, reviving for the marathon that is this lifetime. Eph.5:26

I love this Word. I love that I have God's very Words in my own language, in a variety of versions, at my fingertips.

I love its trustworthiness, its unchangeableness, its absolute authority and sufficiency for the life I'm called to live.

There will be cleverly devised myths. There will be false words that try to slip in to exploit the hearers. II Pet.2:1 But this Word is a sure measure of truth. It is my God-given, infallible guide.

It is profitable for teaching, for reproving, for correcting, for training, for perfectly equipping me (and you) for every good thing He calls us to.
II Tim.3:16,17

We can tickle our ears with other things, tantalize our appetites with half-truths, look for meaning in dreams and omens and wordless pictures, hang on man-made words delivered with authority, thinking them all more significant than mere words on a page in an 'old-fashioned' book that surely needs upgrading to our 'postmodern' times…

But "what has straw in common with wheat?" Jer.23:28

We can sift through the text for words that bring only comfort and shake them free of context and appropriate them for ourselves willy-nilly. For instance, "I know the plans I have for you…" What graduate has not received a card with these words imprinted on it? "…plans to give you a future and a hope…" God had plans alright. Seventy years of captivity were first up. This reassurance was given to God's people as they headed off to Babylon! Jer. 29:11 I suppose there is a principle here based in God's character but…

Interesting that we don't likewise grab other verses in Jeremiah: "I am devising a plan against you…" I have set my face against [you] for harm and not for good" (21:10) We are clearly selective!

But for all the misuse, abuse, and faulty exegesis, God's Word stands sure and eternal—a clear revelation of a God who wants to be known, a clear statement of His love and invitation to relationship, and of the mess we are in without Him! Without this Word we would be adrift to figure out how best to live. We would be hopelessly sabotaged by our own inability to find our own way out of the woods of what seems right… But we have this Word, this true and timeless Word, a custom-fit for the likes of us.

For this I am thankful.

--LS

"Your words were found and I did eat them and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts." Jer.15:16

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” II Pet.1:19

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Tim.2:15