To Tremble at the Treasures of God’s Word

First day after two weeks off over Christmas and I was up earlier than my alarm! And that meant extra time to meditate on the wonders of God's word. This morning, it turned into so much that simply had to be shared.

The scripture I came to was this:

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.[1]

As I began to consider this, I suddenly had to make a statement about what it means to me to have my daily time with God. This is what I settled on:

When I went to expand on this for my daily sharing on Facebook, I had too much to share, so it turned into the following post instead: 

To Tremble at the Treasures of God’s Word

SPENDING TIME with God is a mix of being absolutely honest with God about us and how we are doing while receiving with all our hearts the absolute truth about him from his word. For so many years I have watched God speak the truth in love to me through the Bible like hitting the bull’s eye of my soul-condition every time. 

ONE EFFECT of this relationship is that I am in no hurry to get through God’s word. It is like sitting down in the treasure house of God and knowing that whichever diamond, emerald, or ruby I pick up will shine the glory of God’s light into my soul with distinctive nuances of the spectrum that minister healing, comfort, and strength exactly as I need. 

AND TODAY this happened in the simple words, “So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly.” As I looked into this gem of history, I could picture this large assembly of people who came together “as one man”. What a glorious workout for our imagination! 

AND THEN the spectrum drew me to the way this whole assembly of people asked Ezra their priest to read to them from God’s word. What a wonderful experience that would have been to have such a group of people gather, not because of the popularity of the preacher, but because of their hunger and thirst to be fed on “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. 

AND THERE I leave it with you. In your own private place, fully open your heart to the “whole counsel of God” in his word, the Bible. Then share the word God uses to minister to you with others who are also seeking God in his word and prayer. And gather with other believers to worship our God together on Sundays, and meet during the week for Bible studies and prayer, and see how God does this same thing with us in our day, that whole assemblies of people would come together to hear and learn the word of God. 

AFTER ALL, If we are the “one new man” that is “the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,” and we are, “a holy temple in the Lord” that is “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit”, and we are “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” and this includes being “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, then we must gather together “speaking the truth in love,” in order to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” because it is from him that “the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” 

SO, I tremble at the treasures of God’s word once again. Each facet shines the spectrum of God’s light and glory into my soul in distinctive ways that both satisfy my deepest longings while filling me with longing for more. 

AND IF you will join me and others in spending such time with God in his word, and unite with others in sharing it together, we will not only be those who “tremble at my word” as God desires, but we will enjoy getting to know the Triune God better every day than we have ever known him before. And that is what our eternal life is all about.

But then I still had time for my short sharing, so here is how I summarized that:

And the end of it is that I truly want to be part of a fellowship of people both in person and online who make so much of the word of God that others ask us the reason for the hope that we haven, and we just keep using the word to give our gracious and loving answers.

 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Nehemiah 8:2-3