The very words of God

“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?  Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (Rom. 3:1-2).
 
         Paul has just concluded that a person is a Jew if he is one inwardly (2:29) and this raises the question of what advantage is there in being a Jew. If the Gentile has an inner sense of whether something is right or wrong, and this corresponds to the role of the Jewish law, then, what’s so important about being a Jew. Paul answers, ”Much in every way,” and cites the fact that “the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.” The Old Testament is not simply a book of ancient history combined with the traditional wisdom of prophets and kings. Its pages contain ”the very words of God.” They are as authentic as if God himself sat down at a desk, took a pen in hand, and wrote what is recognized as absolute truth. Gods “word,” the holy scripture, is exactly what he wants to say as the omniscient creator of all that is.
         Is that the way we approach the Bible? Do we regard its history, it’s poetry and its proverbs as God himself speaking? I do not ask that question from a theoretical standpoint but in terms of one’s actual practice.  If God himself came to your house for a visit would you take the time to talk with him?  Would you show him the common courtesy of listening to what he had to say specifically for you, or would you use that time for something like Dancing with the Stars? My question was not intended to make you, the reader, feel uneasy, but to point out the unfortunate distance in today’s world between reality and perception.  Truly, we are sin-damaged goods. Yet at the same time we are precious in God’s sight. He chose to have his only Son sacrifice his life on a cross so we could be forgiven and become members of his family. Our concern should be family resemblance to Him. Like the hero in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Great Stone Face, to “look” at him on a continuing basis is to become like him. We are molded by the content of our thought life. Life in the gutter creates its own look, as does time spent in the more lofty regions of life.
         The point has to do with the transforming experience of continuing exposure to “the very words of God.” Let your heavenly father create in you the very person you have always wanted to be since turning in faith to Christ your savior.