March 1 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me" (John 5:39).

Devotional

The Word of God is full of Jesus Christ. He is the Sun around which this divine solar system revolves. He is the Fountain from which its light and beauty spring. Every doctrine gets its real meaning from his person. Every precept gets its force from his work. Every promise gets its sweetness from his love. "The Scriptures ... bear witness about me" (John 5:39).

Ought we not to fear that it is too quickly forgotten that the Scriptures bear witness about Jesus? Are they not read, searched, and examined with a mind too little intent upon adding to its knowledge of his person and character and work? In this way you misapprehend the character of the Bible itself. You may study it as a book of human literature. Its antiquity may interest you. Its history may inform you. Its philosophy may instruct you. Its poetry may charm you. Its laws may guide you. But in this way, while skimming the surface of this Book of books, the glorious Christ—who is its substance, its subject, its sweetness, its worth; and except for whom there would never even have been a Bible!—has been deeply and darkly concealed from your eye.

But it is the office of the blessed and eternal Holy Spirit to disclose, and so to glorify, Jesus in the Word. Everything that you spiritually and savingly learn of Jesus through this revealed medium is solely by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, opening up this Word to your mind. He shows how every shining line of Scripture truth radiates from, returns to, and centers in Jesus Christ—how every doctrine sets forth the glory of his person, how every promise is written in his heart's blood, and how every precept is embodied in his life.

Come, Holy Spirit, come;
let thy bright beams arise;
dispel the darkness from our minds,
and open all our eyes.

Cheer our desponding hearts,
thou heav'nly Paraclete;
give us to lie with humble hope
at our Redeemer's feet.

Revive our drooping faith;
our doubts and fears remove;
and kindle in our breasts the flames
of never-dying love.

Convince us of our sin;
then lead to Jesus' blood,
and to our wond'ring view, reveal
the secret love of God.

'Tis thine to cleanse the heart,
to sanctify the soul,
to pour fresh life in ev'ry part,
and new create the whole.

Dwell, therefore, in our hearts;
our minds from bondage free;
then we shall know and praise and love
the Father, Son, and Thee.

(Joseph Hart, 1712–1768)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.