S.O.S.
- Stewards of Scripture
Chapter One - Introduction
A
small clump of taste buds, that's how I started out. Around that
clump God wrapped a body of blood, muscle, and bone, and a voice to
be heard. Some 70 years later, with a smile, I tell others I enjoy
the fuel and flavors of food so much that at the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb1,
I'm gonna eat till it gets dark. ('course, it never gets dark in
Heaven, right?)
God's Precious Word – our Bible, is a
feast of warnings and heavenly wonder, often presented with food
metaphors and parables.2
A famous prophet of the Bible's Old
Testament, Jeremiah had a life's ministry far more difficult than
most. His words (inspired by God, of course) in chapter 15:16
identify a very strong link between our dietary intake and scripture,
as follows: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and
thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am
called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”
Troublesome circumstances continually
surrounded him as he endeavored to maintain his obedience to his
loving, God (Jehovah). Yet he internalized God's word and it produced
joy and rejoicing in himself.
STEWARDS OF SCRIPTURE leads us through
the difference between reading God's Word and feeding on God's Word.
Using a few S.O.S. acrostics, we'll arrive at S.O.S. - Solace of
Scripture, that is the “... joy and rejoicing of mine heart...”
that MORE THAN carried Jeremiah through each day of his stormy life.
I look forward to adding honey onto my
cereal each morning. It also reminds me of the little fella that
killed the giant and later became king. King David also wrote a great
deal of scripture to the Old Testament, including the longest
chapter, Psalms 119. Tucked in that chapter, about his love for God's
Word, he included verse 103, my morning cereal reminds me of: “How
sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth!” Note: You'll get a
deeper blessing of this verse, if you research “honey” and its
features above other foods and sweeteners.
The Bible's Quartet of Purpose
To many people, the Bible is just a
haystack of stories about people, places, and times far different
from us and where we live and work. That view of scripture is about
as wrong as anything could be. I like the word, “ALL”. When it's
used, I don't have to decide if something is, or isn't. “All”
means, 'nothing left out.' Let's try the word out with a couple
verses. 2nd Timothy 3:16 states, “All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
This verse tells us where scripture comes from (inspiration of God).
And how much of it? (all) This 'all' verse tells us the quartet of
purpose of scripture; Rules (doctrine), Testing (reproof),
Discipline (correction) and Training
(instruction).
The next verse gives us to bottom line:
“That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished
unto all good works.” Note: the word 'perfect' means
'complete'. And how much of life's challenges does scripture prepare
us for? 'All good works'.
In this world of dark-loving evil
people and information, we need a light; a lighthouse of truth and
safety. We can again call upon King David, and another one of his
God-inspired statements for us, just past his honey verse, in Psalm
119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path.” This verse presents to
me another quartet of Holy Scripture's instruction to me. “...lamp
unto my feet” reminds me that scripture will show me (1) the
condition of myself (feet) and (2) if my steps are on the path. “...
light unto my path” promises that scripture will show me (3) the
direction of my path (God's will) and (4) warn me of dangers ahead.
Our Path Ahead,
In These Pages
The path we'll
follow here is also structured by “S.O.S.” Jeremiah's verse
about 'eating' scripture was focused directly on himself... 'I did
eat', 'mine'. etc. King David's '… like honey to MY mouth' and 'my
feet' and 'my path' also makes very personal the act of drawing God's
Word into the heart and mind of everyone wanting strength and joy
from its pages, principles, and promises.
“S.O.S” is the
internationally recognized cry for help in the greatest circumstances
of distress. We want to show the SOS cry from dwindling church
attendance is answered in the proper approach to feeding on God's
Word in the SOS trio of SELF, OTHERS, and SAVIOR. We'll present this
feeding at scriptures's pages with our feeding at the kitchen table.
Our first point of focus inside the SELF (of the trio) is
PREPARATION.
1One
of the wondrous heavenly events of fellowship the saved will enjoy
with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2A
parable is a short picture story of heavenly truths, in earthly
terms, easily shared with others.
