An Amazing Gift

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4 ESV). It is an amazing thought! Words are so powerful. I can write a sequence of words, have them put on a web page and people I’ve never met, people from all over the world, can read those word and know what I’m saying! The gifts of words, language, and reading are incredible! Language is one of our greatest gifts as humans. It enables us to capture a collection of words, translate them into thoughts, and then understand a message. God loved us so much, that He chose this gift to be a vehicle of communication to us. God could have made it so much more difficult to know Him. He could have revealed Himself in the mysteries of the universe so that only a scientist could know Him. Or, he could have revealed Himself in philosophy so that only philosophers could know Him. He could have revealed Himself in psychology and then no one would have been able to know Him! But God chose to reveal Himself in human words so we could all know him. The Bible contains God’s words for us. The Bible tells us of God’s work in our world. It speaks of His majesty, greatness and might. The Scriptures declare His work in history. That He would communicate with us, in words we can understand, at the level of our intellect, says something very important to us about Him and His love for us. John declares that this communication of God to us is a means of completing his joy. That is due to the fact that through an understanding of God’s message comes and understanding of God. That leads us to a restoration of our broken relationship with God and eternal life. So the next time you read the story of Jesus, be reminded of God's three great gifts to us. First, He has given us the ability to read words. Let's use and enjoy this incredible gift. Second, He spoke to us with words in the Bible to teach us about Himself and His will. We must never underestimate the importance of having a book written in human words to reveal the divine will. With Bibles so readily available, we must take advantage of this gift. Third, God sent his Son as the final Word to not only tell us, but also show us how much He love us!