Message in a Jar

            My Dad is a peanut butter fanatic. So am I. He puts peanut butter on nearly everything, or so it seems, and thick enough to leave teeth marks in the dense spread.  I like mine spread v-e-r-y thin.

            Years ago, a friendly rivalry ensued between us when a new jar of peanut butter appeared in the cabinet. The challenge was to make the first dent in the smooth untouched layer of the peanut spread. It started with just a finger indention that marked our territory.  Then someone got clever.

            I remember opening a new jar with the intention of making my mark. I twisted the lid open expecting to find that shiny level surface, but instead found a message inscribed. “Ha-Ha, I beat you!” with a smiley face underneath.

            From that day on, until the day I moved out, and even a few days since then, when the opportunity presented itself, we both enjoyed writing tender, silly, and even teasing messages with a toothpick in the fresh layer of the new jar.  It was a bummer for both of us if we found that someone else, not as “clever” as we were, had the audacity to plunge their knife into our peanut butter.

            I am sure what made it so special to me was the fact these were messages from my dad. Special messages intended just for me, and I knew with each one, there was an even deeper underlying message.

Nearly three decades ago, when I began what I call my "true spiritual journey", inscribed on the pages of my Bible I found messages for me—intended just for me—for that day—at that particular time and place in my life. More importantly, these messages did not come from the great prophets or writers of the Bible, but rather my Daddy God, or Abba Father, as Jesus had lovingly called Him.

            I have attempted to make it a daily practice to spend time in the Word, but I confess there have been days I have missed for various reasons. But, each time I do, I look forward to discovering something new that day.

            Many times I can be reading a scripture I’ve read before, possibly even underlined or highlighted, but for some reason—on that day—a special message will jump off the page. That is the excitement of God’s Word.  It can be fresh and new every time you open it.

            Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.”

            Abba Father, I thank you that Your word is personal and unique no matter who sits down to read it. You speak to us individually through Your word. I ask, as Paul did, that each of us would be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so we might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and that we would be continuously increasing in the knowledge of God.  Great is your faithfulness Father; Your compassions are fresh and new every morning. May the word of God continue to spread as the family of God increases.  Amen