Monday, August 26, 2013

The Old Receipt
By Lexi Ellis

“There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another - - showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way...”
2 Timothy 3:15 (The Message)

There’s an old receipt in my car. It’s from Culver’s and on July 11, 2012, I bought a small chocolate milkshake and fries. But I intentionally keep that receipt.

Why? Because while I was filling up my car with gas, my husband (then fiancé) grabbed a pen, scribbled on the back of that receipt and left it on my seat for me to find. On the back, he wrote, “I love you. Let’s get married in 3 days.”

The receipt isn’t treasured because of what I bought or the paper it was printed on. It’s invaluable because of the note written to me by someone I love. It’s the words on the back that are important. It’s the “meaningful-ness” of what was written directly to me.

I think God’s Word is like that old receipt. At first glance, someone might assume the Bible is just a book or a free app on our phone. It’s easily accessible and not of extreme monetary value. BUT God’s Word is more meaningful than my old receipt. It tells a love story…one that’s been going on for thousands of years. A story of an all-powerful God who has been reconciling the relationship with His creation back to Himself. It tells of a redemptive Savior who came to restore that relationship. It proclaims a Holy Spirit who lives in us as we choose to put God first in our lives. That book of words or app on our phone has incredible “meaningful-ness” because of what God has done for us. “Yet while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8) How powerful the words in John 3:16 that God loved…God gave...we believe…we receive eternal life.

For those of us who have been followers of Jesus for a while, it could get easy to forget the power and “meaningful-ness” of the words in Scripture. How incredible that God uses His timeless and true Word to communicate with His people. God has written directly to us!

I keep my old receipt because it’s a reminder of the love my husband expressed to me in words. But I’ve realized I also need to remember the “meaningful-ness” of Scripture. May we never devalue the love expressed in God’s Word!

Going Further:
1. Take the time to reflect on what God has done. Thank Him!
2. Reflect on the awesome-ness of Scripture. What meaningful verses come to mind?

Going Deeper:

Lexi is married to Andrew, serves with Oakwood’s Children’s Ministries, teaches at Lake Country Christian Academy and is the Fresh Start Coordinator.