May 21
3
The one, precious, all absorbing theme!
from “The Precious Things of God” by Octavius Winslow
The Word of God must ever be transcendently
precious to the believer. The Bible is, from its
commencement to its close, a record of the
Lord Jesus. Around Him the divine and glorious
Word centers; all its wondrous types, prophecies,
and facts gather. His Promise and Foreshadowing,
His holy Incarnation, Nativity, and Baptism, His
Obedience and Passion, His Death, Burial, and
Resurrection, His Ascension to heaven, His Second
Coming to judge the world, are the grand and
touching, the sublime and tender, the priceless
and precious truths interwoven with the whole
texture of the Bible, to which the Two Witnesses
of Revelation, the Old and the New Testaments
bear their harmonious and solemn testimony.
Beloved, let this be the one and chief
object in your study of the Bible-
the knowledge of Jesus.
The Bible is not a history, a book of science,
or a poem; it is a record of Christ. Study it to
know more of Him, His nature, His love, His
work. With the magnanimous Paul, “count
all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord.”
Then will God’s Word become increasingly
precious to your soul, and its truths unfold.
In every page you will,
trace the history of Jesus,
see the glory of Jesus,
admire the work of Jesus,
learn the love of Jesus, and
hear the voice of Jesus.
The whole volume will be redolent of His
name, and luminous with His beauty.
Oh, what is the Bible to us apart from its
revelation of a Savior! Is there not great
danger of studying it merely intellectually
and scientifically, of reveling among its
literary beauties and its grandeur, blind
to its true value, and without any desire
to know that precious Savior who died for
sinners, that Divine Redeemer who
purchased the ransom of His Church
with His own blood; that Friend who
loves us; that Brother who sympathizes
with us, that enthroned High Priest who
intercedes for us within the veil?
Do we study the “Word of Christ” spiritually
and honestly, as those whose souls hunger
and thirst for this the bread and water of life?
Do we search it diligently and earnestly as
for hidden treasure; treasure beyond all price?
Can we say with David, “O how love I your
law! it is my meditation all the day.”
Do we read it with a child like mind, receive
it with a believing heart, bow to its teaching
with reverence of soul, and receive its
decisions in all questions of faith and
practice as decisive and ultimate?
In a word, do we search the Scriptures
humbly, prayerfully, depending upon the
guidance of the Spirit, to find Jesus in them?
Of these Scriptures He is the Alpha and the
Omega, the substance, the sweetness, the
glory, the one, precious, all absorbing theme.
Yes, Lord! Your word is precious to our souls,
because it reveals to us Your glory, and tells
us of Your love!