Features Homepage

From The Chaplain…

Banking up God’s Word with P-12 College Chaplain, Rev. Mark Schroder.

Want to hear more from Rev. Mark Schroder?
Check out his podcast!
https://open.spotify.com/show/25EdOPaXozIMJtt1g9nuet?si=64xBeeQNT7SCr0hsiRahQg

My Great Uncle, Barry, gave me a money box once. It was a strange money box that looked like a large stone. If you put it in the garden, it would go unnoticed by most people.  

He gave it to me, handed me a single 1-dollar coin and said,  

“Fill this stone with only $1 coins and when it is full bring it to me and I’ll match it dollar for dollar”.  

Of course, as a young boy, my eyes lit up at the thought of my money being doubled and so I spent the next 12 months slowly collecting 1-dollar coins. Coin by coin, banking it away in the money box that looked like a stone. I would even make sure that when I received a $5 note that I would exchange it for 5 $1 coins. It was important that I stored away the coins if I wanted to receive the full reward from Uncle Barry. I was looking forward to the treasure that I would store up and later enjoy.  

In Psalm 119:9-16 the Psalmist realises the treasure he has in God’s Word. It’s something to store up, to treasure and then something to withdraw so as to keep to God’s way.  

By storing up God’s word a young person stays on the path of purity (v.9) 

By seeking God with all his heart the psalmist will not wander from God’s word (v.10)  

By storing up God’s word in his heart the Psalmist knows God’s will and can pursue righteousness (v.11) 

The Psalmist knows that learning and knowing God’s word is something to seek, celebrate, think on and delight in (v.12-16). For him, following God’s Word is central and brings pleasure much the same as treasure and great riches (v.14).  

The Psalmist knows that God’s word is to be stored up and treasured away. Something to bank. And then to withdraw and capitalise on at the right time. For, the purity of his own way depends on his regular consideration of the ways of God. Like a daily withdrawal from a bank for the purchase of daily essentials, so those who want to live God’s way need to withdraw from their bank of God’s word.  

So are you banking away God’s word? Are you treasuring God’s word, hiding it away in your heart so that you will not sin against God? Jesus is God in the flesh. His words are God’s words and he says,  

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

John 11:25

This is a word to treasure, to store up and a word to draw upon by believing in Him.  

Jesus has the words of life, words that if you store up in your heart are literally words you will live by. With Jesus words, you have resurrection and life.  

… … …  

When the day came, I definitely rejoiced and celebrated in the treasured $1 coins I has stored away!  

I remember walking it into my uncle’s house, handing him the money box and informing him it was filled. There was over 100 dollar coins in that money box shaped like a stone. He looked at me, smiled and wrote me a cheque. The treasure I had stored up had paid off.  

So it is with the Word of God. Store up his resurrection words they will be a treasure that you will rejoice in today and long into eternity.  

Psalm 119:9-16 

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? 
    By living according to your word. 
10 I seek you with all my heart; 
    do not let me stray from your commands. 
11 I have hidden your word in my heart 
    that I might not sin against you. 
12 Praise be to you, Lord; 
    teach me your decrees. 
13 With my lips I recount 
    all the laws that come from your mouth. 
14 I rejoice in following your statutes 
    as one rejoices in great riches. 
15 I meditate on your precepts 
    and consider your ways. 
16 I delight in your decrees; 
    I will not neglect your word. 

%d bloggers like this: