Friday, April 12, 2013

I was wowed by Scripture today. That’s why I highly recommend to everyone to read through the Bible. Not necessarily in one year, but in a methodic, purposeful way. I found something that isn’t the “Read it Through One Year” type because for me that was too much. I’d just speed-read through it, mark it on the little marker, brush my hands together as if to say, “I’ve done my duty today.” No. The method I like takes you through on a slower path. Each day you read a certain section of the Bible. Today I read in Luke 1. I have read in Luke many times. It’s a capstone book of the New Testament and in great detail, tells us about our Lord and Savior. What I missed until today, though, was the passage where John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, prophesied after John’s birth. Here it is:

And you, child (speaking to his newborn son), will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.

Does that get to you like it does to me? It is so clear that Jesus WAS the Messiah! Oh that eyes will be opened. I’ve read through the Bible–in the faster, one-year method, and the slower, a-day-in-each-section-of-Scripture, thus taking at least three years time. At least 30 times I’ve run, jogged, and strolled through the Bible. Yet today, the above passage just jumped out at me. Isn’t it wonderful? Can you think of another piece of literature that can speak to us. Day after day, year after year? We are so very, very blessed with Scripture. A gift from God. A letter from the Holy One to us.

I love words and the words and phrases that really spoke to me today were: “face of the Lord”, “tender mercy of our God”, “Dayspring”. I don’t think I can add any more to these God-inspired words. Do you?