Biblical Connections Colossians 3:15

I cherish the time I spend pouring into my son through literature. Every time that sweet blond haired, blue eyed child comes toddling up to me with a book in one hand and his blanket in the other I praise the Lord for the gift of that moment. I take a mental picture of the joyful anticipation upon Shane's face knowing full well he looks forward to the next few minutes of time together, snuggles, and the story. Oh, the story.

Books are magical. They can tell a tail of a princess being rescued from a flaming dragons breath by her prince charming. A book can teach a story about friendship through a rhyming story of farm animals or made up places. Stories can plant an idea in our head to make the world a more beautiful place or warn us with a cautionary tale to watch our actions.. Books can take us on a trip in a chapter and allow us to explore far off places without ever leaving home. There is something so powerful about the written word of a story that I loose myself each time I open a book and get wrapped up in a story.

Shane loves reading time just as much as I do. He will hoist himself up onto my lap while one hand clings to his book and the other to his blanket. He will snuggle into my lap and smooth his colorful airplane quilt over us both. Then the pages start to turn, the pictures are explored, the words are read off each page and he is delighted. Every time he hears the word tree he claps with joy and points outside our window to the lush evergreen northwest landscape and finds a tree. He knows the word. He makes the connection. We read on and word after word Shane recognizes and then points to the world around him to identify, connect, and better understand his reality. Each time we read a favorite book Shane sees something new, he understands something more, he grows and develops. My son is learning through reading and enjoying every moment.

I crave this same hunger for scripture that my son has for books. I long for the desire to spend any free time I can pouring over Psalms and Proverbs, learning from the Genesis of how I was made, hearing multiple accounts of how my Lord came into this world as a tiny fragile child. I want to make connections to my world from what I read. I want to joyfully point out the lessons learned from the Bible to people in the world showing grace, love, and forgiveness. I pray for just a little more of a desire to make the Word enthralling, to let the passages come alive, and to learn through reading the Bible with the same childish anticipation as my son.

Scripture to Ponder: ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through himColossians 3:1517