In 2017 CNN
reported an incredible story 72-years in the making. While Allen Cook and his
daughter Melissa were renovating a house in New Jersey, they found a yellowed
unopened envelope that had fallen between the cracks in the attic. It was a
love letter dated May 4, 1945, by a woman named Virginia to her husband, Rolf
Christoffersen, serving in the Royal Norwegian Navy. The envelope was marked
“return to sender” and never made it to Rolf. The letter said, in part, “I love
you Rolf, as I love the warm sun.” Through the power of the internet and social
media, Allen and Melissa tracked down Rolf, 96 years-old and a widower, and his
son read the letter to him. As you could imagine, there wasn’t a dry eye in the
family. Virginia’s long-lost love letter reached her sailor at last.[1]
As I thought
about that story, I was reminded of God’s love letter to us—the Bible. The
Father who loved us before we were born, created us with tender care and redeemed
us from sin has written us a collection of letters—66 to be exact—yet, how many
of us have let God’s precious Word “fall between the cracks?”
In early
2017 Lifeway Research released the
sad findings of a study done to measure the Bible
reading
practices of Americans. Here is what they discovered: “Americans have a
positive view of the Bible. And many say the Christian scriptures are filled
with moral lessons for today. However, more than half of Americans have read
little or none of the Bible. Less than a quarter of those who have ever read a
Bible have a systematic plan for reading the Christian scriptures each day. And
a third of Americans never pick it up on their own. Its no wonder that Biblical
illiteracy has skyrocketed in the past decades.”[2]
Here’s the problem—how can
we love a person we don’t know anything about? Moreover, how can we grow in our
love and worship of God if we don’t take time to read the book which declares
His love for us? Knowing the Word of God
helps us know the God of the Word.
Charles Stanley wrote,
“The Bible is God’s love letter to mankind. You may never have thought of it
that way; many people tend to think of the Bible as a rule book or a story
book. In reality the Bible is a magnificent love letter in which God tells His
children how He longs to care for them and bless them, forgive them and shower
them with His mercy.”[3]
I don’t know what your
devotional life is like, but I do know this—if I step away from God’s word for
even a day or two, I find my affections and mind being pulled away from the
heart of the Father. It doesn’t take long for me to be led astray. Temptations
become more powerful. Worries and anxiety grow heavier. Worship becomes stale
and my love for the lost withers.
David couldn’t do without
God’s Word either. Look at what he said in Psalm 119, “97 Oh how I love your
law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandment makes me wiser than
my enemies, for it is ever with me . . . 101 I hold back my feet from every
evil way, in order to keep your word . . . 103 How sweet are your words to my
taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts
I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”
Notice at least three
things God’s word did in David’s life: 1) It produced in him wisdom (v. 98), 2) it purified his walk (v. 101, 104), and 3) it sweetened
his worship (v. 103). The more time
we spend in God’s Word more our minds will be renewed, the less attractive sin
will become and the more we will want to abide in close fellowship with Him. Like
the old preachers used to say, “A Bible that is falling apart, usually belongs
to a life that isn’t.” -DM
[1] Ivaylo
Vezenkov, “A lost love letter finds its recipient after 72 years,” CNN, 12 May
2017
<https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/us/love-letter-delivered-72-years-later-trnd/index.html>
[2] Lifeway Research, “LifeWay Research:
Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It,” 25 April 2017 <https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/04/25/lifeway-research-americans-are-fond-of-the-bible-dont-actually-read-it/>
No comments:
Post a Comment