God Gave Us His Word

--Part 4 of the God's Love Series

One of the greatest ways that God has demonstrated His love for His people is by giving us His word. At first, this may not seem on par with laying down His life while we were yet sinners or adopting us. However, the love that went into providing us His written word are immeasurable.

The Bible: a love letter

I first met my wife as a set-up. My sister and her sister were friends, so they had a cookout, invited a few married couples, and us. We were the only two single people there. Talk about awkward! I was afraid to go talk to her, because everybody else knew the purpose of this little get-together, and they were surely keeping an eye on us to see if we connected. So the entire evening passed by without the exchange of a single word between us.

Based on that evening’s experience, do you think it would have been wise of me to propose marriage to her? Of course not, because I never had a chance to get to know her. Sure, I saw her, saw the way she ate, walked, and talked. But simply watching someone’s actions don’t let you know the person. The only way to know a person is by hearing the words they have to say.

Let’s repeat that again: You can’t love someone unless you know them, and you can’t know them unless you hear the words they say. There are no exceptions to this. God knows this, and His desire is to get us to know Him. He certainly knows us very well, but His passion is for us to get to know Him.

He knows us

Jeremiah 12:3

"But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart's attitude toward You."

Luke 16:15

"And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.'"

He wants us to know Him

Psalm 91:14b

"I [God] will set him securely on high, because he has known My name."

Psalm 25:4a

"Make me know Thy ways, Oh, Lord"

Philippians 3:8

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ"

Warning

Matthew 7:21-23a

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you;'"

The way it ought to be

John 10:14

"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me"

How do we treat his word?

I’ve heard many people say "I try to read the bible, but just can't seem to stick with it." If this is you, I urge you to go into reading His word with the mindset that it is simply a love letter. It is full of stories of God showing how much He loves His people. When you read about God rescuing the Israelites, about Daniel in the lion’s den, about Jesus' death, or about Jesus' return, try to see the love in there, the love which God has for His people, the love He has for YOU. That is His purpose in giving us His word. To show us how much He loves us. That’s why children all over the world sing:

Jesus Loves me, this I know,
'Cause the bible tells me so

NEXT: Part 5--Is His Love Enough For You?

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