Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, special ones.

Gorgeous day out there. And it’s a very nice day for a birth announcement: Our female cat, Taffy, just had 4 babies yesterday. Since we never saw her yesterday, we had a hunch that might be happening. Thano and I finally located her nest of choice last night—under a pile of lumber. Thankfully, it’s fairly warm and not raining, so she connected with good weather for her delivery. It looks like 3 white kittens and one gray. Thano is so excited you would think he was the daddy. Watching them in their little cave adds meaning to Peter’s instruction that I cite below—“Like new born babies (even new born kittens), crave pure spiritual milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Pet 2:2). That’s definitely what they’re doing in there—craving nourishment.

Lots more on the agenda for the day. The saw mill should see a good deal of use.

Have a great day doing your thing.

Love, Dad/Ray.

There are some striking similarities between the themes of James and the themes of Peter. Let me cite one example. James says, “He (God) chose to give us birth through the word of truth.” Peter says, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Pet 1:23). Normally we think in terms of a scripture like Ephesians 2:8-9 as a description of the salvation equation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” While all these scriptures are a true description of our new life, James and Peter help us to perceive the main wellspring of it all. It all flows out of the revelation and our right response to the Word of God—which, for all practical purposes, is the Bible.

If the Word of God is this vital, it’s not surprising that James would carry on with the theme in these terms: “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:21-25).

Is it any wonder, therefore, that Peter would give this encouragement? “Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Pet 2:2).

Let’s make sure we don’t miss this point: God’s Word is of utmost importance in God’s plan for your Salvation. Here now is a vital corresponding question to help us identify how “the rubber meets the road:” Is God’s Word of utmost importance in your worldview and lifestyle?