| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading” Our Bible verse for today: “Open my eyes Lord so that I may contemplate wonderous things from your instructions. I am a resident alien on earth; do not hide your commands from me.” Psalm 119:18-19 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Plunder the Bible” One of the truly amazing aspects of the Bible is how it can be both shallow and deep at the same time. It is shallow in that many of its truths are right there on the surface and therefore easily understood, even by children. It is deep in that even the most educated scholars can study it for a lifetime and learn something new every time they read it. Recently I came across a statement written by the eminent Bible scholar, professor, and author Martin Marty. He said that the Bible must be searched and plundered. That conjures up images in my mind of pirates searching for buried treasure, finding it, and then eagerly plundering the treasure chest. While I don’t think we Bible students are pirates, I do love the image of the Bible containing buried treasure just waiting to be discovered. And I do love the idea of me as a treasure hunter discovering and uncovering the treasure, and then joyfully plundering it. Those of you who have read my book “Walking with Paul” might remember a story I told in one of the chapters. It’s about a farmer in Texas who lived a long life trying to scratch out a living on a poor piece of land. For years he and his family struggled through dust storms, droughts, diseased crops and sick animals, as well as all the other problems faced by small farmers in that area. He always dreamed of one day striking it rich, maybe winning the lottery. One day a representative of an oil company knocked on his door and said the company’s geological survey indicated there might be oil located under his land. He asked the farmer for permission to sink an exploratory well. The farmer gave his permission and in only a short time they discovered a substantial oil field right under his farm. Almost overnight he went from being a dirt-poor farmer to being a multi-millionaire. The sad part of the story is that the wealth had always been there. All those years when he was poor and struggling that wealth had been his and was right there waiting for him, but he didn’t know it because he never searched for it. That’s true for many Christians as well. There are precious nuggets of spiritual truth and insight waiting to be uncovered in the Bible, but most Christians never discover them because they never do the work to dig for them. At Oak Hill Baptist Church we dig for them. Every Sunday morning in Sunday school and in the sermon; on Sunday nights in our seasonal Bible studies; on Wednesday nights in our midweek prayer meetings and Bible studies; and every day in our daily devotional messages we dig for and discover Biblical treasure. I invite you to join us as we plunder the Bible together. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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