In this postmodern, post-Christian, western, English speaking world we live in, we use the word “love” way too casually. We use it to describe how we feel about the pizza we are eating and in the same breath will tell our spouse – I love you. I hope we are not putting the love of pizza on the same level as the love of our spouses. How we use the word love requires an understanding of the context within which it is used because we tend to infer much of the meaning.

When the word love is used in the Hebrew or Greek languages the Bible was originally written in, love was not used casually. Love was used to express a choice of commitment and devotion to the object of that love. So, in Psalm 119:97 when the Psalmist proclaims “Oh how I love your law!”, he was not comparing scripture to pizza. The Psalmist was declaring his deep commitment to and admiration for the Word of God. The Psalms are the Jewish hymnbook of the Old Testament, and like many songs written today, they express strong emotion such as love. Most of you reading this blog are not song writers and I would guess you don’t often express strong feelings of love like they do in a song. And yet we are called to follow the teaching and pattern that we see in Scripture which begs the question, “How do you fall in love with the Bible?”. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, provides the answer for us. Sunday we will look at part of Psalm 119, then in your community groups you will tackle another part of the Psalm, helping us map out a path to falling in love with the Bible. And yes, I’ll say it – Ya Gotta Love this Book! You have to love the Bible if you are ever going to grow from it. Join me this Sunday as we take a bold step toward loving this book more deeply.