Category: Loving the Bible

“God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!” I grew up hearing this chorus repeatedly sung in honour of God’s Word. Perhaps you did too.

Whilst the chorus’ message is one to be endorsed, the phrases could do with a bit of reordering, mentally at least. Something along these lines: “God said it, that settles it, and so I believe it!”.

Effecting that change is probably a lost cause, I admit, but maybe not when it comes to our individual approach to the Bible. How do we respond to the claims the Bible makes, the promises it offers, or even the rebukes it lovingly gives? Do we accept them as sufficient and authoritative for the mere fact that God is the ultimate author? Or do we require that additional step taken to believe it before ‘it’ is settled? In order words, what ‘settles it’ for us? Continue reading “What settles it?”

I wonder if for the psalmist, relishing God’s Word was an acquired taste. For me, it certainly is! I have not always been one to make much of the Bible. It served very well on Sunday mornings, but not really beyond that. Not until when I began to vaguely understand that this was no ordinary book – from its origin to its centrality in the unfolding of history.

The Psalmist’s choice of descriptive terms in Psalm 19 is very telling indeed, inviting the reader to an experience like no other. I have yet to come across a book that offers such reassuring promises, and ultimately – a transformed life, in exchange for a conscience bound by its teaching. Continue reading “A taste worth acquiring”