Glimpses of Heaven

This past Sunday, I sang with the worship team at church. Often when I'm standing there looking out at the congregation, I think about Heaven. I hear the sound of a few hundred voices united in praise and excitement fills my heart. But imagine the sight of a great multitude surrounding the Throne - an innumerable multitude of one heart and one purpose: to glorify their King. Imagine the sound of the angelic choir, undoubtedly singing in more than just four-part harmony. Can you imagine what the voice of the Creator of music must sound like? Truly, it will be unlike any sound we have ever heard, because nothing on earth is equal to Him in majesty and glory. He has given us glimpses into the beauty of song, but we have yet to hear the Singer Himself. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now [we] know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we are] fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

"The Word Was, the Word Is, and the Word Will Be...."

Lately, the Lord has been using various means to remind me how much I need His Word. Up until the past week, I'd really been slacking when it comes to spending time in Scripture. It's not that I don't want to; I just don't think about it. I forget. My intentions are good (although, you know what they say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions.").

Driving back from visiting my parents in Montana last week, I listened to a number of Christian radio programs: David Jeremiah, Family Life Today, and the like. (I resign myself to listening to whatever Christian radio station I can get while traveling...especially when my iPod battery is dead!) It seemed that each broadcast, in its own way, was emphasizing the importance of Scripture. David Jeremiah taught from Nehemiah 8. This chapter recounts how the people asked Ezra to read to them from the Book of the Law of Moses, and "he read it aloud from daybreak till noon...in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively..." (vs. 3).

Contrary to the people in Nehemiah's day, we have ready access to the Word of God. Not only do I have multiple copies of the Bible in my possession, but I can drive 5 minutes to my local Christian book store and buy the latest and greatest editions, in multiple versions, and even find a Bible put out by some great (and, dare I say, some not-so-great) theologian or other.

How quickly we forget the preciousness of the Word of God. Men like William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and John Wycliffe did not commit their lives (and, in some cases, shed their blood) so that we could have pretty, leather-bound, gold-embossed books lie on our shelves gathering dust. What believer in the persecuted world would not give anything to have just a page? And we have multiple volumes complete with commentaries and concordances.

I don't say all this to point fingers. I need to hear it as much as anyone. May we all be reminded and challenged to value this Book for what it truly is: the very Words of God!