...And the Word was God

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"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."                 
—John 1:1-5
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I can read a study-Bible footnote for an intellectual explanation for this passage.

But to sit and let it sink in: "...the Word was God."
And to lay upon that: "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men."

I can't help but hear: 
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' "
—John 8:12

And then I come back to the written word of God here:
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." 
—Psalm 119:105

I'm contemplating these pieces of scripture today. How is The Word that opens John's epistle related to the word I hold in my hands? The verses curl over one another, rolling round like a wave but haven't spun into being a defined answer, spelled out in clean, crisp type.

Yet I sense deep in my heart of hearts that the Bible—God's word—is more incredible and much deeper than I can know intellectually.

Many say that the Bible is God's love letter to us. That seems a bit shallow though. While a love letter isn't a bad thing, it just seems to fall short of what God's word truly is. I see in these passages that the Bible is much, much more.

So I ask You, God

—show me the weight and power of Your word. 

How does it connect with Jesus, the Word made flesh? I know that this is a mystery, yet I long to carry within me enough understanding that I come to your Holy Word with my heart open and expectant for more than words.

I know what I hold in my hands is more than mere words, more than a letter, more than a book—for through the years You have pointed me to specific passages and brought those words to life. Through Your word you have brought powerful changes about in me. You've instilled incredible courage in a weak and insecure woman. You've prompted me to action that required more than I was physically capable of—all though Your word.

So was this through Your written word brought to life by Your Spirit? Was this Christ, the true Word living in me as I lived and moved and had my being in Him? And is this one in the same—what a fantastic mystery!

While I may not comprehend it, 

You, my LORD, draw me to a well-worn Bible 

and invite me to live this mystery. 

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"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."
—Psalm 119:130

God-Breathed

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
—II Timothy 3:16, 17  NIV

How do you hear God?

I know that I hear God through His word. So making time for reading and absorbing God's word is a non-negotiable. If I want to truly be alive in Him, I must let His word permeate my heart and soul, to let Him breath life into me so I may be truly alive to the things of God.

"All scripture is God-breathed..." I thought about this the other day and what came to mind was somewhere else that "God breathed." I traveled clear back from II Timothy in the New Testament to the very beginning of the Old Testament. To the very start of man's journey on earth.

"When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground—the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."  —Genesis 2:4b-7

"...the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

Could the breath of God that gives life to man—to me—give life to ink on a page? That the life in God's Word goes beyond what can be explained solely through exegesis. That when it gets worked into the right now's and split wide open by the details of what we're facing that it spills out as something that's never been before. That God shows up and breaths Himself into our world when His word is opened and invited—no, more than invited—inhaled so that just as our blood stream carries the oxygen we need to live, the Spirit carries life in it's fullness in our innermost parts.

I wonder if when I open God's Word and read it, but maybe I'm not gripped by it as I often am. That in those times of opening and reading it, even if I don't feel changed, even if I don't understand something new or gain some insight that I have immediate use for, that even when nothing seemingly "happens," that really God somehow breaths life into me in spite of what I think and feel.

I'm not talking magic, but I am talking mystery. Maybe there's something that happens when I'm holding His word and drinking of it that satisfies an unnamed thirst, that revitalizes places in me that I don't even realize needed rejuvenated. And so, I must come again and again to feast on God's word.

I desire that I am moved and instructed and shaped and transformed. Will I trust that God is doing work in me with His word even when I can't express how what I'm reading applies to what I'm going through or what He wants me to know of Him. Could God even do some fantastic thing on the molecular, nano-level merely by me sitting and reading His word aloud? I wonder, and I don't doubt it.

So when someone tells me that I read the Bible, but it doesn't say much to me, I think about how His word is God breathed and if God's breath can bring dust alive, what can it do to the man or woman who sits awhile and reads it and invites the Holy Spirit to do a work in them.

And I do ask the Holy Spirit to give me understanding, and if not understanding to somehow bring the word alive so I might might be changed.

For it's not just the familiar passages, the snippets of scripture that are oft-quoted that are beneficial, but ALL scripture is. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful. It all equips us for good work. God's word leads to good action. God's breathes His word into us and we become people fully alive to Him and fully equipped to live for Him.

So sitting and reading His word isn't just a passive thing—His word is active and alive. It infuses me with God's life which is true life, Kingdom life. How can I not look forward to the next time I can read God's word?

And to the occasions when good teachers help unlock its meaning. To the moments when someone shares a bit of scripture that God prompts them to share. For these words are indeed Life to me.

And even when I sit and read wait, but don't perceive that God is doing something, can I rejoice that I'm hearing His word and, still, He's somehow breathing life into me?

As I open my Bible and trace the paths that millions have trod before—through Genesis and Isaiah, through the gospels to the the prison letters and beyond—I trust and believe God's Spirit is doing a great work in me. I can trust that every minute I give to the wearing down paths through these pages, God IS breathing His life into me. 

Yes, a well-worn Bible is where God's Life is breathed into me. So that I might be what God desires "a living being" to be.

A Well-Worn Bible

"Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who keep His statutes
and seek Him with all their heart.
They do nothing wrong; they walk in His ways."
—Psalm 119:1-3

God, You have made me and You desire that I take on Your image. You use Your Word to transform me, so I come often to sit with You. I walk through these words wearing down paths that the eyes of my heart will travel again and again.

I seek You amidst these pages. Often when I'm reading through a passage it's not long before Your Spirit lifts a phrase right up off the page. It may be as few as two words that rock my world.

My heart is stirred. I see some part of You colliding with my life in a new way. I want to try on these words, walk in them and return to read them again.

Numbered references rarely stay with me, so I lay down clean medium point black ink lines marking off words of life.  I cling to Your Word, Lord—a worn-out Bible splayed over my lap all underlined and highlighted, wrinkled by tears and time.

I've worn out a few Bibles. It's a sad thing—Psalm 34 tears loose, I fold it and tuck it in it's place. A few more pages come loose and I'm forced to acquaint myself with the slick smooth pages of a new Bible.

New Bible or old, I'm desperate for the words to lift off those pages, cut deep into my heart and make a difference in the way I live.  That I may be clothed in You—and wear Your Word well.

For that is truly a well-worn Bible.