By Margaret Kennedy
As I read and reread the love letters my late husband wrote me and love cards he handpicked for me over the past 20 plus years, I treasure every word. I keep them in an easily accessible place because reading them brings me joy, love, laughter, and his presence into my days and nights. I have even shared some of his words with my family and a few close friends. His words bless them because they loved him, too. They are my treasures indeed!
This is the attitude that you and I will have if we truly hunger for the Word of God because the Bible is God’s love letter to you! He gave it to you to read and reread and then to share with others. When you and I are spiritually hungry our hearts stand “in awe of Your Word and I rejoice at your Word as one who finds great treasure” (Psalm 119:161-162).
Recently, my granddaughter and I were asked to be a part of a prayer summit together. One of us was asked to read a given verse, the other share how that Word had worked in her life, and then the other was to pray. Now 18, this granddaughter had said to me when she was only 3: “One day, Mimi, when I get to be a big ole Mimi, I am going to stand and speak in a microphone and teach the Word of God just like you.” I thanked God she recognized my love for my love letters. Immediately I began praying for that day to come — and it finally had! With shaky hands, she held a microphone, read 2 Timothy 3:14–17 and prayed aloud after I shared these words:
This past year has been a very difficult season of my life in many ways. I have been afflicted with grief, the loss of close friends, a victim of grand thief, and felt a depth of loneliness I had never experienced, resulting in a loss of joy and feelings of anger and disappointment, even with God.
I agree with the Psalmist in Chapter 119 who said, “If it had not been for your Word and my delight in it, I would have died in my affliction.”
However, I thank God that I have been trained from my youth to depend upon the Word of God. Therefore, this year, in my desperation, I have daily searched God’s Word to heal my brokenness, restore my joy, convict me of my anger, and renew my passion to pursue the works He created me to do.
Because His word is alive and actively working in me, I stand before you this evening experiencing a closeness and contentment in Christ like never before, my joy being restored, and a deep desire to serve Jesus until He comes for me.
Our children, grandchildren, and women in our churches must recognize that we have a hunger for God’s Word because we understand that it is our letter from Him. When they see how we treasure the words and how His words change our lives, they will begin to develop an appetite also.
Let us, as leaders, be diligent to teach our women how to “open their love letter” and come to know the One who wrote it to them. Teach them to treasure their treasure!
Margaret Kennedy is a biblical retreat and conference speaker, who also has a call for mentoring young women on her life. She teaches a women’s class in her local church, which has been aired on a secular station for several years, and also has a daily radio program called “Threads of Hope” on a local Christian station. Margaret has been married to Ross for 17 years, and has two grown sons and five grandchildren. She is a Lifeway Ministry Multiplier and is co-author of Heart Friends: Beginning and Maintaining a Small Accountability Group.
