Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about the Word of God.
And that word begins with something my little friend Stephen said when he was watching the Olympics with his dad last year. It was during one of the medal ceremonies and Stephen was fascinated with the medals — the differences between gold, silver and bronze. He looked up from watching the TV and said to his dad, “You know, I think I’d rather have a silver medal.” His dad asked, “Why?” to which Stephen replied, “’Cause it looks better, shinier, and cleaner. Gold’s got all kinds of junk in it.”
Well, Stephen’s dad had never thought of it that way, but it underscores how silver often takes a back seat to its richer brother, gold. But in the mind of this little boy, silver had a greater attraction. It was shinier than gold. It looked faster, more cool and sleek and pure. It didn’t look like anyone added any “junk” to it.
Well, Psalm 12 would agree with Stephen, for it says in the sixth verse, “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.” According to this, God has the same view as Steven when it comes to alchemy. When describing His Word, God says that it is more refined than silver (gold can’t — how can I put it — “hang together” if it’s entirely free of impurities; there’s nothing to make it stick). And this is why God chooses to liken His Word to silver. It’s because God is less interested in attractiveness and more interested in purity. God’s Word, because it reflects a pure and holy God, must (in the same way) always be associated with that which is refined and pure, unmixed and free of any binders or fillers. The Bible doesn’t need any extra things to help it stick together!
Another thing about likening God's Word to silver, well, they tell me that silver has the ability to kill bacteria when it comes in contact with it. It’s as if “bad things” can’t survive in silver, or around it—I think you learned this when you went to the dentist, right! So, too, the Word of God is not only pure in and of itself, it has the ability, when applied by faith, to cleanse the reader of his or her sin. God is not as concerned about people finding His Words “golden,” all beautiful and attractive, as he is in people’s lives being touched by the “silver” of His Word — becoming changed, holy and pure.
The purity of God’s Word should make us treasure it highly. More importantly, it should make a change for the better in our lives. God wants us to apply His commands to refine and change our hearts. And this is why I would love for you to join Ken and me this year in reading through the Bible — yes, I realize it’s the end of January and you’ve missed some readings, but, hey, we’ve got eleven more months to go and there’s so much to read and learn. I received an email from Marilyn who wrote, “Praise God, Joni! We have seen God’s many blessings in our life since we committed to reading daily along with you and Ken. God was very specific about the roles of the Levites with the tabernacle, wasn’t he? We try to picture this tabernacle surrounded by the 12 tribes, nearly two million people and all that was involved in moving it when the cloud lifted. Wow! We serve a God of order, don’t we? I would have missed understanding this had I not read through Leviticus.” That’s a great testimony from Marilyn so I encourage you to please, if you haven’t already signed up, go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and download this year’s chronological reading schedule for the Word of God, and then sign up! Join Ken and me and a lot of your other friends in reading through the Bible in a year.
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376