Our Daily Bread

Love letter

Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on

it all day long. v.97 Each morning when I reach my office, I have one simple habit — check all my emails. Most of the time, I’ll work through them in a perfunctory fashion. There are some emails, however, that I’m eager to open. You guessed it — those from loved ones.

Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist: “Oh, how I love your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The Scriptures are “your commands” (v.98), “your statutes” (v.99), “your precepts” (v.100), “your word” (v.101, emphasis added).

A question by Thomas Manton (1620-

The Bible in one year: • Genesis 23-24 • Matthew 7

1677), once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?”

It is said of some people that the more you know them the less you admire them; but the reverse is true of God. Familiarity with the Word of God, or rather the God of the Word, breeds affection, and affection seeks yet greater familiarity.

As you open your Bible, remember that God — the One who loves you the most — has a message for you.

— Poh Fang Chia Oh, may I love Thy precious Word, May I explore the mine, May I its fragrant flowers glean, May light upon me shine! — Hodder READ: Psalm 119:97-104 Knowing the Bible helps us know the God of the Bible.