NURTURED BY HIS WORD

 

Daily I stand in my holy place

As I feast upon Thy holy word,

Ever hopeful I will meet You there;

Thy Spirit to embrace

And the cares of this world to arrest.

I reach for You in darkness

And step up to heaven’s door;

I am bathed in light

And am granted entrance to Your heart.

In studying the New Testament this year, I have become enthralled with Jesus’ fame among the common people during his earthly ministry. His popularity became so great  that wherever He went great multitudes followed and at times so thronged that they impeded  the Saviour’s movements. It often made it impossible for Him to effectively deliver a discourse. Such was their desire to hear the new doctrine and words of eternal life He could give them. The multitudes that pressed upon Him so eagerly made it necessary for the Saviour to preach to them from a ‘small ship’ which was kept in readiness on the beach in Galilee (Mark 3:8,9). 

 

This has made me see how eager we should be to hear the Saviour’s words so readily available to us through the scriptures that sit on our shelves and do not necessitate that we even leave our house let alone sit on the shore of some sea. Yes, listening to the Saviour in person would be the next level of spiritual feasting, as Nephites of old could attest, and this is something to look forward to. However, we are not there yet. When Christ travelled on the road to Emmaus post resurrection, He simply expounded the scriptures which testified of Him (Luke 24:13-32) to two of His travelling companions, after which the two men proclaimed: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). As much as it would be wonderful to have Him with us, this for now is the next best thing. 

 

I testify to you that our hearts can burn within us as we study the scriptures.  I testify that He lives and He is all that the scriptures claim Him to be. I pay homage to the Holy Ghost who enlightens my mind and who increases my capacity to understand the words of eternal life and who brings me to the throne of God to reverence Him now and forever. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Nurtured by the Word by Greg Olsen)#