For the past 3 years, I have spent my lunch hour at a small stretch of creek that runs through Happy Valley. Weather and wardrobe permitting, I stroll along the same path that runs between the creek and the marsh. I cross the same two footbridges and walk beneath the same tree that has fallen into the crook of another tree on the other side of the path, forming a mystical looking arch. I stop to sit on the same rocks that give me close access to where the water rushes against the rocks and shoots bubbly spray into the air as it falls to the other side. To me, the sound of the water is like heavenly music. I don't think its any accident that there is a river running right through the middle of heaven in the book of Revelation. I have no Biblical basis to say this, but when I picture heaven in my mind, I imagine that the water there will sing, just as I believe it does here on earth.
You would think that after all these years, I would grow tired of this place, but I don't. You see, I've learned that this place is teeming with life and although much of it might look the same from day to day, there is always something new or different that I see when I go there.
I might see the muskrat grabbing plants from the water for a noonday snack, or a hummingbird snatching fluff from last years cattails, or a water snake slithering by my feet as it works it's ways downstream. In the spring, it's whatever wild flower has chosen to bloom that wasn't blooming yesterday and in the fall it's the migration of the birds that brings uncommon visitors to the water's edge. In the dead of winter, it is paw prints in the snow that tell me who was there during the night. With all this activity, it is definitely worth all the re-visits that I make.
Often when I come, I sit within the sound of the water and read God's Word. Just like the creek, His Word is alive and active. No matter how many times I read it, there are always new things that I see. Verses jump off the page as the Lord ministers to my heart in a new and fresh way. Sometimes it is for my comfort and encouragement. Other times for correction and guidance but every time, it thrills me to hear the voice of God speaking right to my heart. Just as the creek is a daily habit because I love it and I feel as if I've missed out if I don't go, so God's Word is even more my daily habit and one that I not only love and enjoy, but that I need if I want to live a peace- filled life. And like the creek, the more time I spend in His Word, the more I want to spend time in His Word.
Some people see the Bible as a novel-when you've read it, you read it. From time to time they go back and read their favorite parts. Others think that they have understood and gleaned all they can from it or that it's just too hard to understand at all. That is because they have not really understood that it contains more than just words. It IS life to the heart, soul and spirit. As we interact with the Word, God interacts with us.
If we say that we love Jesus but the Word does not interest us, we lie to ourselves. You see, it clearly states that Jesus and the Word are one. To interact with the Word of God is to interact with Jesus. To know the Word is to know God's heart and to discern God's will. It is like the creek. It looks the same on the surface, but if you take the time to study it, you will find that it will speak to you in so many different ways.
It is our daily bread. We need to eat every day or we will become emaciated and weak. Then we become prey for the enemy. None of us find eating a chore or a burden. Reading and praying is not a burden for the person who truly loves the Lord. It is like sitting down to a good meal and eating until we are stuffed. The more that we allow God to speak to us, the closer we grow in our relationship with Him. There is no greater joy!
You would think that after all these years, I would grow tired of this place, but I don't. You see, I've learned that this place is teeming with life and although much of it might look the same from day to day, there is always something new or different that I see when I go there.
I might see the muskrat grabbing plants from the water for a noonday snack, or a hummingbird snatching fluff from last years cattails, or a water snake slithering by my feet as it works it's ways downstream. In the spring, it's whatever wild flower has chosen to bloom that wasn't blooming yesterday and in the fall it's the migration of the birds that brings uncommon visitors to the water's edge. In the dead of winter, it is paw prints in the snow that tell me who was there during the night. With all this activity, it is definitely worth all the re-visits that I make.
Often when I come, I sit within the sound of the water and read God's Word. Just like the creek, His Word is alive and active. No matter how many times I read it, there are always new things that I see. Verses jump off the page as the Lord ministers to my heart in a new and fresh way. Sometimes it is for my comfort and encouragement. Other times for correction and guidance but every time, it thrills me to hear the voice of God speaking right to my heart. Just as the creek is a daily habit because I love it and I feel as if I've missed out if I don't go, so God's Word is even more my daily habit and one that I not only love and enjoy, but that I need if I want to live a peace- filled life. And like the creek, the more time I spend in His Word, the more I want to spend time in His Word.
Some people see the Bible as a novel-when you've read it, you read it. From time to time they go back and read their favorite parts. Others think that they have understood and gleaned all they can from it or that it's just too hard to understand at all. That is because they have not really understood that it contains more than just words. It IS life to the heart, soul and spirit. As we interact with the Word, God interacts with us.
If we say that we love Jesus but the Word does not interest us, we lie to ourselves. You see, it clearly states that Jesus and the Word are one. To interact with the Word of God is to interact with Jesus. To know the Word is to know God's heart and to discern God's will. It is like the creek. It looks the same on the surface, but if you take the time to study it, you will find that it will speak to you in so many different ways.
It is our daily bread. We need to eat every day or we will become emaciated and weak. Then we become prey for the enemy. None of us find eating a chore or a burden. Reading and praying is not a burden for the person who truly loves the Lord. It is like sitting down to a good meal and eating until we are stuffed. The more that we allow God to speak to us, the closer we grow in our relationship with Him. There is no greater joy!
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