Red-Letter Treasure
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” Hebrews 1:1-3
I was reading these first verses of Hebrews this week, intending to write a blog post on how God speaks to us, when a thought occurred that took me in a different direction. I thought about how the Godhead speaks to us through Jesus, and specifically through His words recorded in Scripture.
As a young child, I remember receiving the very first copy of the Bible that was specifically mine, not just handed down from someone else. I flipped through the pages, thinking how strange it was that some of the pages had words in red instead of black. As I asked my mom about it, she patiently explained that the words of Jesus are often printed in red so that people can find them easily.
Now, as an adult, I have had many copies of God’s Word, most with those red letters distinguishing the words of Christ. I have often wondered, but never researched, who it was that first put the red ink on the page, and why. But regardless of the history behind the red letters, their content is literally highlighted, in a sense, for us as we read through the New Testament.
What tugged at my heart as I read the verses above was the fact that I so often find myself so familiar with the red-letter passages, it is easy to begin skimming over them instead of thoughtfully reading. But Christ’s words are there to be read, deeply thought on, and interacted with.
Of course, this applies to the entire Bible, since every word is Divinely inspired and recorded for us. But the nature of Christ’s coming—choosing to take on human flesh, to be seeable, hearable, perceivable on our finite level, almost makes His words feel more personal to us in our humanness.
Think about the treasure given to us: the very words of Jesus, there to be read, studied, pondered, and delighted in any time we want—and then think about what your life would be like without them.
As we get into the routines and stresses of everyday life in this new-ish new year, I must ask: are we really taking time to treasure the gift of Christ’s words?
Dear Reader, are you spending time in the Word of God each day? Are you attentive to it as you read, or is it just a box to check off on your to-do list? I encourage you to pray before you read, then fight the urge to skim or hurry through. Take time to appreciate the treasure of those red-letter words.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35