To the very end

When the grandboys were little, I recall my daughter painting some stones golden color, then burying them just beneath the surface in their sandpit. In a short while, the grands began to dig, discovering all the 'hidden treasure' just beneath that sand. Excited to discover their 'pirate booty', they giggled, dug, and showed off their 'find'. Wouldn't it be great if we approached God's word in just that way? With anticipation for what we'd find next, excited to share what we had found, and digging even harder each time we went back to it. 

Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight. I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end. (Psalm 119:111-112)

What do you treasure more than God's word? That could be the hardest question for us to answer today because anytime we value the advice of man, the chances are that we will be putting the cart before the horse! God's word contains very practical advice for living, but we sometimes 'discount' its value because we don't always see it as relevant for today. The truth of the matter is that there is absolutely nothing new under the sun - what changes is the look or feel of the thing before us, not the basic premise upon which it was established.

An electric car is only possible because someone developed the gasoline engine, created the first chassis system, and figured out how to make those gears all mesh together to get the thing moving in the first place. The electric car is built on an established pattern - just made to be more environmentally friendly. God's word never goes out of date - it is always relevant. We may just have to get into it a bit more in order to understand the basic principles taught within those pages are actually quite relevant to our present-day issues - we just have to use them!

As with each new year, some will commit to reading God's word daily, but rather than just reading it for the sake of plowing through the pages, perhaps we could be a bit more 'tactical' in our approach. Maybe we should be asking God to show us the basic principles and how they can apply to our present circumstances. We might just be surprised to discover the truth within those pages help us make sense of today's struggles and present-day issues. Just sayin!