The Transformational Power of ScriptureSample

The Word is Spirit On June 6, 2020, a medical student found a million-dollar treasure. Jack Stuef, a Michigan native, had followed the clues to the mysterious buried treasure of Forrest Fenn, a wealthy art collector who had hidden an antique box filled with gold and jewels somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. After years of thinking and weeks of searching, Jack became an instant millionaire. How exactly did Jack find what hundreds of other treasure hunters missed? He explained, “I don’t want to ruin this treasure hunt by saying it was made for an English major, but it’s based on a close read of a text. . . . I understood [Fenn] by reading his words and listening to him talk over and over and over and over again.” When I consider those words, I have to think of the connection between eternal treasure, the words of the Bible, and the work of the Spirit. In the epic closing of John chapter 6, our Savior said, “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit” (John 6:63). If the Bible had a list of ingredients on its back cover, the Holy Spirit would be the first on the list. He fills the pages of Scripture, taking words off a page (or a screen) and planting them like seeds in your heart and your mind. Because he is divinely working, the Bible grabs you in one verse, slaps you to your senses in the next, and allows you to be still and know that he is God before your devotion is over. Have you experienced this? Throughout the centuries, humans have sought to find the treasure of God’s truth through rituals, pilgrimages, and mountaintop experiences. But our Father, in his mercy, didn’t hide the truth about his love and your salvation on the top of Mt. Everest. Instead, he “hid” it in Ephesians. And Genesis. And the psalms. And every Spirit-filled, Christ-centered page of the Holy Bible. We understand what a treasure Jesus is and how much he treasures us when we read his words and listen to our God talk to us over and over and over again. Unlike Jack Stuef, you may never become a millionaire. But whenever you hold the Scriptures in your hands, you are rich indeed. “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold” (Psalm 119:72).