Bible Sunday

Today is Bible Sunday and in Church, we listened to a sermon based upon the following words which are used during the coronation service as the monarch is presented with a copy of the Bible:

Our gracious Queen:

to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God

as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes,

we present you with this Book,

the most valuable thing that this world affords.

Here is Wisdom;

This is the royal Law;

These are the lively Oracles of God.

The preacher wondered how many Christians would answer ‘the Bible’ if asked the question ‘What is your most valuable possession?’

A question to challenge us all! Perhaps the words of the hedonistic Lord Henry Wotton in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ might ring true for many – that people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

But if the most valuable thing in the life of a Christian – the Word of God – is thus devalued, then what will be the effect of every other aspect of the Christian’s life which is meant to be based upon that Word? If we fail to value our values and the things upon which we base them, surely those values become irrelevant and we are doomed to devalue every other part of our life.

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Psalm 119:105