Jump Start # 375

Psalms 119:11-12 “Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes.”

  Psalms 119 is a noteworthy chapter for several reasons. First, it’s the longest chapter in the Bible, containing 176 verses. Second, it gives us multiple expressions that describe the word of God. Words such as: statutes, ordinances, commandments, testimonies, law are just a few examples from this chapter.

  Our verse today identifies one of the great reasons we need to spend time with the Bible. It is more than an exercise in reading. Reading the Bible has an impact upon our hearts. This leads to a change in behavior. The Psalmist treasured the word in his heart so that he would not sin against God.  The more Bible that is in us the less sin that comes out of us!

  The Romans were told that the basis of faith is the word of God (Romans 10:17). We simply can’t get enough Bible into us. It is more than learning facts, it is becoming that person that God wants. It is being molded and shaped by God.

  Last week we started sending our Jump Starts out through a new medium. This new way gives me all kinds of details, data and reports, some I’m not sure I wanted to know. I can now see not just how many are getting the daily Jump Starts, but I can actually know what percentage of those emails are being opened. I even can know, if I want to, who specifically reads them. Now this new information has been humbling for me and a bit hard to swallow. I learned what percentage are opening them, which means what percentage are reading them. A writer wants to be read. The ego within me makes me believe that what I’m sending out each day is worth reading and interesting enough that everyone wants to read them.  Not so. This has made me think about God. He, too is an author. He happened to write the greatest book of all time.

  God knows how many of us each day are reading His word. I wonder if He thinks, “I hoped that there were more than that?” I wonder, as I did about my writing, if God thinks, “Is there some way that I can get more to read my word?” I wonder if God thinks, “Why aren’t more interested in what I have to say?”

  I have never looked at the Bible this way before, from the standpoint of how the author feels about the number reading it. The Bible outsells all other books and most of us have more than one copy. I don’t know how many I have. I have a few favorites. I have my “preaching Bible.” I also have my “study Bible.” All these Bibles and God knows if we are opening them or not. I wonder if God thinks, “There they are, spending another restless night, tossing and turning, worrying about things that really do not matter. I can help them. What they need is sitting on the nightstand. Pick up my book. Look in it. It can help you.” But He sees that we don’t. Another stressful night. Another day begins and we are too busy to open the Book.

  There is no way of knowing this, but wouldn’t it be fascinating to know how many Bibles were opened worldwide today? How many Bibles in your community were opened today? If you knew that number, how would that affect you? How does it affect God?

  The value of the Bible is not in owning it but in using it and knowing it and following it and letting it shape your heart. In our passage today, the Psalmist “treasured” God’s word. Years later, the Gospels tell us that Mary treasured all the things said about Jesus. Mothers tend to do that about their children. They save the little crayon drawings, the home made cards, the clay figures made in art class and all things that their children give them. These are treasures to a mother. The Psalmist treasured God’s word. God’s word was of value to him.

  I’ve gotten hooked watching Storage Wars and Auction hunters. It is amazing what those people find in storage sheds. They find things of great value—if someone will pay the price. That’s the key. Something may be worth a bunch of money only if someone will pay it. The value is determined by how rare something is, how old something is and mostly, what it means to the buyer. If the buyer doesn’t want to folk over a thousand dollars for an old silver cup then that old silver cup isn’t as valuable as it was thought to be.

  What price do you put on God’s word? Not the physical Bible, but the words of God. More valuable than an hour TV show? More valuable  than an extra few minutes sleep? Value is determined by how much people want it.

  No man is poor who has the word of God treasured in his heart!

Roger