Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of LifeExemplo

Our covenant-keeping God is a God who speaks to us. In his words, we find comfort, assurance, and direction.

In my seminary days, I would bound up the stairs to our third-floor apartment in Philadelphia to share with my wife, Luella, everything I was learning. I was so full of the glories to be found in the pages of the Bible that I felt like I could burst. I told Luella that I wasn’t just learning to think biblically, but was learning how to think, period. I now look back on those days from the vantage point of fifty years of ministry. For fifty years, day after day, I have lived in, studied, preached, and taught out of the endless warehouse of spiritual treasures that are found in God’s word. God, in condescending love, has spoken to us. I cannot imagine what my life would be without his words.

Every bit of wisdom I have comes from the words of his book. I found my identity in the words of his book. I was drawn to put my trust in him because of the words of his book. I have meaning and purpose right here, right now because of the words of his book.

I have found peace during times of trial because of the words of his book. I have future hope because of the words of his book. My life has been rescued, empowered, and defined by the words of his book. So it is not a little thing that God comes to Isaac and communicates, in words that Isaac can understand, that Abraham’s blessing is now being passed down to him. God speaks his covenant blessing in human words. Transcendent and eternal blessing is communicated by the King of kings in common human words that finite human beings are able to understand, believe, and build life upon. God’s words to us are a miracle of divine grace. To every generation, he makes his presence, his love, his grace, and his plan clear.

To Isaac, he says:

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. (Gen. 26:3–4)

Here God communicates his blessing, one that could never be earned, achieved, or deserved. In words, he promises his presence. In words, he promises to Isaac a place for him and his descendants. In words, he promises that through Isaac blessing will spread throughout the earth. God speaks, and because he does Isaac knows who he is, what his life is about, and what God intends to do through him.

Today, God is still speaking to us through his word. Salvation, identity, purpose, and hope are ours because God has spoken to us. Amazing grace is communicated in just two words: God speaks.

For further study and encouragement: 2 Timothy 3:16–17