Treasures

Under the Tree

Insights into the Wonders of God's Word

I don't know about you, but for myself, when growing up and in my preschool and early grade school years, the Christmas season was filled with magic, excitement,  and anticipation! Lights decorated houses. Wonderous movies played on the TV. And the centerpiece of all of this was the Christmas tree: selected with care from the forest, decorated with beautiful ornaments, streaming with tinsel that reflected the lights spectacularly when the only lights on in the room were the Christmas lights that wrapped around the tree.

Yet as beautiful as the tree was, it was the presents under the tree that truly grabbed my attention. Covered with ornate wrappings, each package burst with color and filled me with wonder, excitement and thoughts of toys. These presents added a unique depth and beauty to the tree.

But my brothers and I were not content just to take in the beauty of the Christmas tree with its presents when we woke up early each Christmas morning. We yearned to open these beautiful presents, to find the treasures they held. And then after we opened the boxes, we started to play and use these wonderful gifts, sometimes non-stop into the late night or even into the early hours of the next morning.

In the Gospel of Luke, Christ invited Martha to sit at his feet and to learn like her sister Mary. (Luke 10: 38-42)

The Bible is beautiful, and there is no better place to start then sitting down and reading it. Beautiful, powerful, insightful, life-changing. These words just begin to touch on how the Bible can come alive to those that know Him, to those seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.

And yet as beautiful as the verses in the Bible are in my native tongue, I want to encourage you to literally unwrap these verses and to understand what they said in the native languages they were written in. Christ indicated that every single stroke, every apostrophe in the law was important. (Matthew 5: 18) Am I willing to try to understand every single stroke, every single word that has been preserved for us through the centuries?

And our goal is to not only to open the Scriptures and to understand it. Yes we want to let it wrap us in the wonders of its words, as if we were sitting listening to an orchestra and hearing all the instruments playing. From the stringed and wind instruments, to the drums and even the small yet importantly placed triangle, every single instrument plays an important role. And we would sit on the edge of our seats to hear the music when it plays softly, as well as to soak it in when it is resounding with gusto and energy. We would lean in to see the orchestra members fingers dance with the music, to hear their very breaths caught up in the majesty of the music. Yes, like sitting and listening to an orchestra, we want the Scriptures to come alive, to hear its music, to resonate deeply within us.