The One Revealed

The Scripture has been important to me almost since I learned to read.  I was baptized when I was nine years old.  Exactly when I got my first Bible I am not sure, but I know it was probably one of the first books I owned.  None of this is to say that I have been the faithful reader I could have been, but it is to say that it is a book which has never been very far away.  As the years have added up, it has stayed even closer.  I am grateful that the Scripture has been a constant in my life.  Throughout my ministry, I have always thought of myself as one of Wesley's preachers and have grew to appreciate the "one book" tradition which is a part of my Methodist heritage.   

There have been times when I have said that my life is based on this holy book, but as I pause I realize that as important as the Bible has been in all my days, my life has been based not on the book as much as the One revealed in the book.  I have been influenced by many saints who have gone before me.  I have learned to glean some of the truths proclaimed from other faith walks, but Jesus is the One who is the foundation of my life.  There is no one like Him.  He has done for us impossible things.  

John 1:18 declares, "No one has ever seen God.  It is God the only Son who is close to the Father's heart, who has made Him known to us."  In another place in the same gospel we hear Jesus saying to Philip, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9).  These are amazing, mind boggling words.  To see and know Jesus is to see and know the heart of God and this is only one of so many things revealed to us through this book we carry with us on the journey.