[No Bible handy? Click the link above to read on BibleGateway.com.]
I hope you will indulge me today in the sharing of a personal experience with God, His Word, and this passage.
The revelation came rushing back as I read the verses in preparation for writing. A revelation of the Spirit. One only accessible or reasonable when one accepts Scripture as God's Word. His breathed out living and active words for our lives.
The exact date and time go unremembered, but the unexpected revelation, one I would never have come up with myself, comes back with a fresh flush to my face.
Again, forgive my rambling a moment, as I try to find the words.
At one point in my pursuit of Him over the last twenty-two years I came across this verse:
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears,
not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
2 Corinthians 2:4
The moment I read it, I was no longer hearing Paul speaking to the Corinthian church, but it was Jesus speaking to me about Scripture...
Read it again now... hear Him speaking to your heart...
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears,
not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
The Scriptures. The Bible. Written by Him. Out of great distress, anguish of heart, with many tears over the state of what I've done... you've done... not to grieve us. Not to shame us. But to let me... you... know the depth of His love...
This book is not to be taken academically or solely as an intellectual pursuit. It is not written by men for men. It is a love letter from the very Creator of the universe. The Lover of your soul. To let you know He loves you.
He loves me.
That truth overwhelms. You don't know me, but I do. I know the atrocities I've committed in my rebellion. I know the depth of my darkness.
And still... He wrote to me... out of love... over the centuries before my birth, through men who would listen and record, and He preserved His Word for me. So I would know He loves me deeply.
I hope you hear Him, too. When you read His Word.
He loves you.
Father God, thank You for reminding me today of the revelation
You blessed me with and this opportunity to share it with others.
I pray each one reading this will hear You speak to them
through Scripture. Hear the depth of Your love for them
through Your Word. Let it be so! Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment