What is this rock of surety that is often robbed of its value by lives too busy and hearts too distracted? It is one of God’s most amazing graces to us. It is a gift of such value that you can never exhaust its wealth, never reach the end of what it has to offer. It has astounded wise men and given insight to kings. It is rest to the weary and light to those walking in the dark. Its ability to bring sense and surety is unaffected by history, culture, location and class. It gives stability equally to the powerful and the poor. It is physical evidence of a God of grace. It is His Word. Are you standing on God’s Word or attempting to keep upright on the shifting soil of a fallen world?

Trying to describe the rock that is God’s Word pushes you to the boundaries of your vocabulary and the outer edge of your creativity. Beside the gift of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no sweeter gift that we have been given from the hand of the Lord. It the only sure place to stand Here a few words pictures help capture the sure foundation that is the Word of God.

1. The Word is a story. Perhaps you’ve noticed that your Bible is not arranged by topics. That is not an accident. That is God’s intention. What you find in Scripture is the world’s most important story, the great story of redemption. This story that we could have never imagined or conceived is the one story that makes sense out of the story of every human being that ever lived. Embedded in this story are the answers to the great mysteries of the universe and the great questions of life.

2. The Word is a mirror. Everyday all of us look in a mirror to gauge the distance between how we actually look and how we would like to look. The mirror never lies; it always confronts us our exact appearance. Such is the Word of God. It is the ultimate mirror and when you take time to look at yourself in its shockingly honest reflective wisdom; you will see things about yourself that you would have discovered no other way.

3. The Word is a scalpel. Like a knife, held in the hands of a skilled surgeon, the Word of God is able to do something that no other book can do. It cuts through the layers and exposes the causal core of our personhood, the heart. The Word alone is able to do this spiritual surgery. It brings God’s healing hands to the place where sin has done its greatest damage.

4. The Word is a map. Drawn by the one who knows how to get from the ravages of the Fall to the rest that is found in the kingdom of God, it provides direction and protection to anyone who submits to its guidance. It never fails in showing you how to get from where you are to where God wants you to be. It really is a “lamp to your feet and a light to your pathway.”

5. The Word is a drink. It is cool water to our parched lips as we stand under the heat of the desert sun of the fallen world. It is a drink of life for souls that our dry and weak. It lifts us off our knees and onto our feet, to walk again with strength down the path to which we have been called.

6. The Word is a key. It unlocks the prison of foolishness. It releases us from rebellion, deceit, fear, and despair. It unlocks the chains of untruth and idolatry. It releases us from bondage to sin. And in setting us free, it gives us back our humanity and restores to the God for whom we were made.

7. The Word is a portrait. It paints a picture of the Ruler of the Universe that we could see no other way. As we look in to this portrait of the Lord we see that he is not only Lord and King, he is Shepherd and Lamb. He is a tender Father and a faithful friend. He is a wise Teacher and a skilled Healer. He is a Warrior and a Savior. He is both Judge and Forgiveness. In his portrait I see everything that I need.

Why hope in the Word? Why stand on its every promise? Why heed its guidance and reach out for its grace? The answer is simple, it is the only place where life can be found. There is no firmer place to stand. There is no more reliable place of hope. There is no more trustworthy place of comfort. The story, the mirror, the scalpel, the map, the drink, the key, and the portrait all call me to come and rest again and hope again and stand again at the only place where life, real life, eternal can life be found.