The Word – mysteries God has revealed
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matt 13:44)
The Word of this Advent season is, ‘Behold He comes!’ It is also a season of preparing for leadership transitions as a nation and in the Church. It is a great responsibility to be in leadership because you are holding authority that comes from God. For those who have offered themselves as candidates for elective posts, we pray that it will be a season nursing the very burden God has for His people – the very reason He seeks to establish and uphold a kingdom ‘with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever’. Our congregation will also hold an Annual General Meeting early next year, and leaders will be chosen to form a Chapel Council – some of us must consider to answer affirmatively if God calls us to this task; let us all pray for this process.
Today we also celebrate Bible Sunday. “I am a scribe, as were my forefathers. For four thousand years, we have been assigned the duty of preserving these Holy Scriptures; the histories of our people, and of the world. It is in these scripts that we still hear the voice of God, and his unfolding plan to save the fallen world; a world that He created with perfect beauty; for His glory. There in the Garden of Eden, the divine relationship between God and man was broken, and to this day, all creation is accursed.” – These were words of one man in the Christmas play, yet they are not just an act, but reality. John introduces Jesus Christ as the Word who was in the beginning with God, and this augments the value we must place on the Word of God.
The Holy Scriptures bring us a story from Genesis to Revelation – a story of God’s plan to save humankind, a story of good news. In every generation there have been stewards of these mysteries in form of Church leaders, Bible expositors, apologetics, and many ‘smaller’ leaders of Bible studies and those who go back to check the Scriptures to find out if what they heard was right. We all have a duty to love and treasure God’s Word, as well as be responsible stewards of the same. Supporting the work of Bible Society is part of this stewardship – that the Bible may reach many of our own folks. There are answers in the Word of God; it is knowledge and understanding and wisdom. It is life. It is a treasure to which Jesus’ parable is applicable; sell everything else, sell all other philosophies and ‘buy’ the Word and place Him above all.
God bless you all.