Loving the Source
Recently a young man called to ask me if I could remember a certain sermon I had preached. More specifically he wanted to use an illustration about church history that I had used. It had been years since I preached at his church and I was amazed he had remembered the sermon and the illustration. I knew where the story had come from and began digging through some old books to find it.
I found the book I was looking for that had been stacked away. I had not opened it in 20 years. I opened the old yellowing pages and began flipping through the marked up pages like I had just been reunited with some old friend.
There was a marker in the book. It was an old envelope now faded. My heart jumped when I noticed the handwriting. Could it be? Yes it was! A letter from my grandmother when I was in college. The date was still there on the post mark. I couldn't wait to read the letter.
Emotion gripped me as I carefully removed the stationary from the envelope. What a treasure! My dear little grandmother who had loved me and believed in me. What did she have to say to me? The note was so encouraging then, but even more so now.
I love that note. Why? Because I love the sender.
So how is it that we get to the point that we love the scriptures? Simple really. Fall in love with the sender, the source. When we realize the scriptures are a love note to us and we consider the source, and love God more, we develop a pure love for the text.
"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97, NIV).
"I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word" (Psalm 119:16).
'Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them" (John 14:21, NIV).
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16, ESV).
We Are Obsessed With Our Phones
Network World reports:
We’re obsessed with our phones, a new study has found. The heaviest smartphone users click, tap or swipe on their phone 5,427 times a day, according to researcher Dscout.
That’s the top 10 percent of phone users, so one would expect it to be excessive. However, the rest of us still touch the addictive things 2,617 times a day on average. No small number.
The research firm, which specializes in consumer reactions to products, recruited 94 Android device users and installed special software on their smartphones. The tool tracked each user’s “interaction” over five days, all day, the company says in a blog post on its website.
“And by every interaction, we mean every tap, type, swipe and click. We’re calling them touches,” it explains.
Averaging out the numbers, the aforementioned figures mean the heaviest users are touching their devices a couple of million times in one year, Dscout says.
... Probably the most interesting thing in all this was that the people surveyed completely underestimated their phone touching. While they were initially shocked by the numbers, 41 percent said “it probably won’t change the way I use my phone.”
How many taps, types, swipes and clicks take place between you and God in a day?
If the number of times you were in contact with God on a daily basis could be tracked, would you be shocked by the result? Would it be because of how often, or, how infrequently you reached out to Him?
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8).
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:3-5).
Knowing Christ
In today's world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can "know." If someone asks the questions, "How long is the Verrazano Bridge," a nimble person with a 4 G connection and an iPhone can ask Siri, "How long is the Verrazano Bridge," and they will get an almost instantaneous response.
But if we were sitting next to an 85 year old retired construction worker who spent 2 years of his life building the Verrazano bridge in his 20s, we would not only get the right information, we would get it with great passion.
That's what it means to "know Christ and the power of his resurrection." It involves much more than repeating facts concerning Christ or the Bible. Knowing Christ involves an intimate relationship with Him, one that changes your life.
"I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death" (Philippians 3:10).