Ink Stained (Friday Devotional)

 

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

- John 13:17

Early Tuesday morning, you may remember, it was cold—lately Texas can’t seem to decide from day to day whether it’s winter or spring, but Tuesday was assuredly a wintery day. And in my house, where everyone but me was still snuggled under their covers, the thermostat was down to a chilly 62 degrees. So as I sat in my chair in the living room, I was using the tools at my disposal to warm up—a blanket on my lap, socks on my feet, a hoodie over the T-shirt I’d slept in. And lastly, I tightly gripped my piping hot coffee cup, wrapping my hand all the way around the cup instead of holding it by the curved handle.

But when, my hands sufficiently warmed, I put the cup down, I was surprised by what I saw: black ink all over my fingers. Some combination of the cheapness of the mug, the heat of the liquid inside, and my grip meant that some of the cup’s ink had rubbed off on my hand. I’d been holding onto it so tightly that it rubbed off on me.

God gave us the Bible so that exactly that would happen—not so that we’d have a nice family heirloom or a dusty paperweight, but so that we would hold on to it so tightly its words would start to rub off on us. God’s commands are intended to be read and studied, but more than anything they are meant to be obeyed—the point of Scripture is not just to know it, but to live it.

The Bible is honored and treasured by many people around the world, heralded for its literary and historical value and the wisdom within its pages. But if its only value to you is intellectual, if you read the Bible only to learn things but never to apply them, then you’ve missed the point. God gave us his Word so that we would hear it and then be changed by the hearing. So read it well, hold it tightly—and by the power of the Holy Spirit, let it rub off on you.