Back to the beginning.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John1:1-2)”. I don’t think there is a more glorious introduction in the entire bible than this one. John really nailed what it means to set the scene, get the readers’ attention, and bring them to the main character. Simply beautiful. The Word, which is Jesus was there in the beginning, at the same time, it is also the vehicle through which the world was created. There is a difference between the “Word” and the “word”. One refers to a person and the other to statements. My focus today is on the word that refers to statements. I want to draw us back to the beginning, back to the word of God. We get so entangled by the worries of this world, our lives, and ourselves so much that we forget to go back to the beginning, to what is truly important. My hope is simply to point us back to the sword (Ephesians 6:17) we have to fight against the devil’s schemes, to bring us to the word of God that encourages us, keeps us away from sin, draws us nearer to God, and makes us wiser.

Our powerful God made the earth, the moon, and the sky through his word. By speaking, everything came to be. Everything that did not previously existed came to be. Ex-nihilo. Psalm 119 tells us that God’s word is eternal, that it stands firm in the heavens, that God established the earth and it endures – which he established through his word. Can you see the power that is in the word of God? Can you see the power that is the word of God? Is it any wonder then that God would care so much about His word? When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land, what He gave them were His precepts, his decrees, his instructions, yes, his commandments which are all part of his word. God actually cautioned the people of Israel to not let his commandments depart from their mouths, to impress them upon their hearts, to teach them to their children and their children’s children (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). It is very easy to infer from that warning that God values His word and He thinks we should value it too if we value Him. That is not something you could have told the author (or authors) of Psalm 119 twice! In it, we see an “Ode to the word of God”. The entire psalm is filled with praise for the word of God, His precepts, His decrees and commandments. Moreover, it is packed with benefits for enjoying the word of God, benefits for loving the word of God, benefits for meditating on the word of God and obeying the word of God. Similarly, in the book of Proverbs, the same idea comes out – enjoying the word of God is beneficial. It gives wisdom and as we know from Proverbs, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. The word of God also sustains us, it keeps us away from death, it enables us to endure afflictions and to go through difficulties with our heads high (Proverbs 1-3 highlight those). How often do you think of the word of God when you are going through tribulations? Have you ever thought you had the tool to enable you to fear no evil as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death? What about when you are indecisive? Do you know that the application of the word of God enables you to be decisive? To make informed decisions as you encounter challenges in your life? The more I read God’s word, the more I am in awe of the beautiful gift it is. I recognize that it is an immense privilege that we have in North America to hold the word of God and to have it within arm’s reach. With the rapid technology, it is even more accessible as we get it on our phones and mobile devices. Yet, we seem to be unaware of the power we hold, even more unaware of the understanding it gives. As it says in Hosea chapter 4: “my people perish because of lack of knowledge”. We have a weapon that we do not use. For most of us, our bibles are ornaments, and they fill our bookshelves. We pride ourselves in the different versions and bible styles we own but never think we own a weapon. It is as though we have forgotten that we are in a battle. This is very sad, and might I say scary because to whom more is given, more will be required (Luke 12:48). You who have the privilege of having the word of God within your reach what are you doing with it? Do you see the treasure that it is? Are you seeking to obtain its wisdom as we are encouraged and or commanded to do in the bible? Are you loving it more than gold? Is the word of God more precious to you than your time, your money, your gifts, etc.?

Let us refocus ourselves on what is important. Let us go back to the beginning. Failure to do that will only bring us to elevate ourselves and become fools hating knowledge (Proverbs 1:22). It will only draw us to look at ourselves and believe the lie that we are great and full of knowledge which will only lead to our destruction as said in Proverbs 1: “For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them (emphasis mine)”. The word of God is the weapon we need as we walk this earth and confront with evil. It is a weapon like no other because not only does it allow us to fight, but it also comforts us and lifts our spirits. In the word of God, we see the triune God (Father, Son, Spirit) and we are humbled. Let’s remember to see the word of God that we hold as a weapon with huge benefits for those that read, meditate on it, and apply it.