Loving Jesus

I am one of the fortunate ones.  I am one of the blessed ones.  I cannot remember a time when the Holy Word was not a part of my life.  About the time I got my first bicycle, a Bible was given to me.  As best I can remember it was around age six or seven.  The bicycle I rode many a mile, but is gone.  The Bible remains.  Actually, the very first one I was given is now in a special place in a drawer.  I pull it out from time to time to hold it in my hands with gratitude for a gift given long ago that still shapes my life.   

It was a black Bible with a zipper around its edges.  It was carried with me every Sunday to Sunday School.  I read the stories of the Old Testament and learned about Jesus when I was little more than a boy.  There is now a shelf in my library filled with Bibles, references, commentaries, and even a Greek New Testament with which I wrestled in seminary.  However, there is one Bible which sits on my desk just a reach away all the time.  It constantly calls me to sit with it, to read it, and to allow the Spirit of God to speak through its pages.  

Only a short time ago while reading from the last two chapters of Hebrews, I found those verses which spoke of Jesus being "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."  (Hebrews 12:2).  Another spoke of Him as "the mediator of a new covenant," (Hebrews 12:24) and another which identified Jesus as "the great shepherd of the sheep." (Hebrews 13:20).  Finally, there was a verse remembered from those boyhood days, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8).  There is so much meaning and power in these words about Jesus.  Long before we loved Him, He was loving us.  It is a good moment, is it not, to just be in His presence speaking once again of our love for Him?