Christmas Cookies and The Word

Psalm 119:103 - "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

We're decorating for Christmas today. In a few hours our home will be transformed. A Christmas tree will stand where a living room chair now sits. Nativity sets will go up. Our railings will be decorated with greenery. Lights will be up throughout the house. And, a wonderful aroma will invade our home as some of the dishes we only prepare at Christmas time will be baked. I love this time of year.

Honey was the sweetener of choice in ancient times. It was a delicacy, and the taste of honey brought pleasure to the mouth. As I read today's verse, I thought about the treats that will come out of our oven. I love the Christmas cookies and coffee cakes. David picked one of his day's greatest delicacies to compare the Word of God to. And he said that God's Word was of greater delight than any of it.

A while ago I was interviewing a young woman for a position that we had open at Wooddale Church. As we conducted the interview we asked her to share her view on various doctrines. When we came to the doctrine of Scripture she began her answer by saying, "I believe that the Bible is the most beautiful book ever written." I loved her answer. She was the first one that I had ever heard in any interview setting (or ordination council for that matter) refer to the Bible as beautiful. She understood what David was talking about in this passage. God's Word is more than just the breath of God. It is beautiful. It is delightful. It is powerful. It changes lives. And, it's worth devoting significant portions of our life to.

I've asked you several times over the past few days to spend time in God's Word. I hope you'll do it. It's the tradition of many people during the Christmas season to read through the various tellings of the Christmas story. I'd encourage you to try that. Read through the familiar story (I really like Luke's telling of it, in Luke 1-2) and see if you can learn anything new. Ask God to reveal something new about His nature or about His love for the world. And, revel in the beauty of God's Word. It's sweeter than honey, and better than Christmas cookies:>)

Dear God,

You are truly amazing. You have provided us with Your Word and we are grateful for that. Thank You for sending us Your Son. Thank You for this time of the year where we can reflect on You. Thank You for life's little pleasures like honey and Christmas cookies. We love You.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.