John 17 : 10-19
All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Daily Byte
God’s Word is often the source of much controversy. On the one hand there are those who ignore it and believe that it is only a human book that is no longer relevant. On the other hand are those who idolise it and exalt it to a book of magic, and almost a further person of the Trinity. But, for Jesus the word is both important and subservient. It is a signpost that points to Jesus, a sacrament through which God’s presence comes to us, a guide that shows us how to become holy and Christ-like. Without Jesus, the Bible is just words on paper. Without the Bible we would have no real access to the life and teaching of Jesus. In the sense that the Bible leads us to Jesus, and leads us in the way of Jesus, it is truth. But, if it begins to become an end in itself, it ceases to be truth and becomes the worst kind of deception. That’s why Jesus prayed that we be made holy by God’s word and God’s truth.
What is your relationship with the Bible like? In what ways has it been truth for you? How has it pointed you to Jesus, and helped you to follow his way? Have you found the use of Scripture in worship to be helpful? How does worship help you to receive God’s word, and be changed by it?
Pray As You Go
Thank you for your word, Jesus,
for the record of your life and work,
for the wisdom it offers,
and the truth it contains;
Thank you that you meet me in its pages,
that your Spirit speaks to me in its words,
that your presence come to me as I read it.
Thank you for giving me this signpost,
this holy-maker,
this search light,
that examines my heart and life,
and leads me in your ways.
As I follow you Jesus, I give thanks for your word,
even as I remember that it points me to you.
Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission
To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com
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