Many years ago, there was story in Reader’s Digest about a young man who left home for his first year at Duke University. As a parting gift, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was indeed reading the Bible–but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How could they be so sure? They had tucked $10 and $20 notes next to each of the verses they had cited in their letters!

This story reminds us of the importance of God’s Word. When sending their son off to uni, those parents could think of no better gift than a Bible. They knew that, for all the earthly knowledge imparted at universities, their son needed to know God. And they so longed for him to open up the Scriptures that they were willing to put money in its pages. In some ways, it would have almost been a reward!

But the Bible is, of course, a reward in itself. When we read or listen to it, we are receiving a message from the one true and living God who wants us to know Him, and to receive His blessings.  

Psalm 19:9b,10 says “The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold…” And Psalm 119:14 contains a similar sentiment: “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.” The best thing about God’s Word is that it reveals to us the way of eternal salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who trust in Him receive a heavenly inheritance that is ours forever (1 Peter 1:4).

So may we be people who take great delight in the Word of God, which is infinitely more valuable than all the gold in the world.