In His Own Words

8/10/2022

Written By: Margie Davis

After my mom passed last winter, my siblings and I sorted through her small storage unit at the facility where she had been for many years. There were some worthless trinkets, but there were also some treasured items! Among those was a book called “Reflections of a Mother’s Heart.” It is one of those books that asks questions about certain periods of your life and has space for your responses. It prompts you to basically tell your life story in your own words.

What an amazing thing to find new (to me) information about my mom’s life! These details would have been lost to me if I had never opened that book and read what she wrote! And as a bonus, I felt as though I had spent time with her as I saw her handwritten words! It was almost as though I could hear her voice! Every single page I read gave me a deeper understanding of this woman I had known my entire life!

That’s what reading our Bibles should feel like! This Jesus, whom we have maybe known our whole lives, has things He wants us to know about Him! And as the words sink into your heart while you read them, you will feel as though you have spent time with Him.

We are quick to take medication, change our diet, and self-soothe with alcohol or drugs just to feel better temporarily. We are willing to listen to endless podcasts to find motivation. We post on social media to find acceptance. We will spend money, time and tears on things that do not matter. And the whole time, the solution to every single issue we have is written on the pages of our Bibles. Jesus tells us to simply listen to Him and just do what He does.

Once we care about the things He cares about, everything else fades into the background of our life here on earth. And the things He cares about are CLEAR! It’s only confusing when we try to bend everything Jesus says to fit the lifestyle we want to live. But this is our season to learn and prepare for our forever life! Don’t you want to take the very best version of yourself into heaven when your name is called?

Are you keeping the Scriptures at arm’s length for a reason? Do you think it’s changed too much over the years and is no longer truthful or relevant to this generation? Hebrews 13:8 says that “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.” If you believe that is true, then you must know that there are behaviors in our world today that are very displeasing to God. That is why it is so critical to read the Bible. How will you ever know what He expects of you and what breaks His heart if you never spend time getting to know Him?

I’m afraid that our children, grandchildren and future generations are becoming polluted by the world. This is not a new problem. In the books of 1 & 2 Kings we learn that many bad Kings reigned in Jerusalem after King David died. People did whatever they wanted to do and some of it was quite horrible!

But then a game changer by the name of Josiah became king (at age 8!) and set his heart to follow God and lead the people “in all the ways of his father David.” (2 Kings 22:2) He was already on a great path when, 18 years into his reign, a high priest found a book in the temple of the Lord. 2 Kings 22:11 says “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.”

You see, Josiah got new information from that sacred text that convicted him that there was more that God expected from him and the people whom God had set apart! And it broke his heart that the culture around him wasn’t meeting those expectations! So, with the new information, great change took place!

From the pages of the Bible, I have learned that I have sin that I should be tried, sentenced and imprisoned or even put to death over. BUT from those same pages I have learned about GRACE. Please don’t miss grace because you are unwilling to read God’s book and learn how to live His way. You may have lots of time left on this earth or you may not have much. But you have today. Today, open the story of God’s life, written in His own words, and get to know Him!