January 11, 2015
“All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16a)
Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith was one of America’s most famous sports columnists. Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1905, he eventually wrote for the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Times. He was the first sportswriter to win the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and 1976 he received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame (baseball’s greatest honor for print journalists). The Associated Press awarded him the first “Red Smith Award” for outstanding contributions to sports journalism.
Smith was once asked if turning out a daily column wasn’t quite a chore. To this he is said to have replied, “Why, no. You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.” In this bold visual, Smith captured one of the essential elements of great writing. The great writer opens up his life and pours himself out through his words.
That is true of the greatest book of all time, the Bible. In the Bible, God the Father pours Himself out for all to read. He tells about the creation of a wonderful world and its people, made in His image, who tragically turn away from Him. He shows Himself in history, actions, laws, instructions, and miracles so people can understand His nature and character. In the Bible, God reveals His love, emotions, commitments, and plans for those He created. He goes to great lengths to bring a rebellious people back under His perfect care by sending His son, Jesus to die for our rescue.
Next time you pick up the Bible, stop and consider that this book is God’s heart, opened to us, so that we can know and find Him. He reveals Himself, inviting us to trust Him and put our lives into His hands. The Bible is no ordinary book, but the story of the Creator who loves and works with His creation even today.
To complete the reference I began with, “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)
Will you let the Bible reveal to you God’s heart and then will you let God’s heart draw you to Him and the best kind of life to live?
Your pastor,
Dude Garrett
