I read of a young man who bought an old painting at a garage sale for a few dollars. He thought it might look good above his sofa. Watching a television program, he recognized a name as the signature on his painting. He took the painting to a professional art dealer and discovered that it was a priceless treasure.

When gold was first discovered in California, the prospector shouted, “Eureka, I’ve found it!” There is hidden treasure in most homes in America. It’s more precious then gold. It sits decoratively on a mantel or coffee table collecting dust. It’s the Holy Bible. Unfortunately many do not realize the value of what they have. This treasure does no good unless it is read, mined, eaten, used, and obeyed.

The Psalmist, David, said, concerning the Word of God, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:103-105).

William Guthrie (1620-1665), an eminent clergyman of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, was one who had great ability to draw upon the riches of God’s Word. I love his description of the Holy Bible. “Wondrous book! It humbles the lofty and exalts the lowliest; it condemns the best, and yet saves the worst. It engages the study of angels and is not above the understanding of a little child. It heals by wounding and kills to make alive. It is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth. Teaching kings how to reign and subjects how to obey, masters how to rule and domestics how to serve, pastors how to preach, teachers how to instruct, and pupils how to learn, husbands how to love their wives and wives how to obey their husbands. Divinely adapted to our circumstances, whatever these may be, we can say of this book as David said of the giant’s sword, ‘Give me that, there is none like it.’ Rob us of the Bible and our sky has lost its sun and even in the best of other books we have nothing but the glimmer of twinkling stars.”

Have you discovered the hidden treasure of the Holy Bible – the Word of God?
Chuck Colson, who I believe has one of the keenest minds of our generation, says this concerning the Bible, “The Bible – banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it, dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it.

“Yet fragments of the Bible smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints. Pieced together, scraps of scripture have converted whole villages of Indians.

“Literacy classics endure the centuries. Philosophers mold the thoughts of generations yet to be born. Modern media shapes current culture. Yet nothing has affected the rise and fall of civilization, the character of cultures, the structure of governments, and the lives of inhabitants of this planet as profoundly as the words of the Bible.

“My word that goes out from my mouth. . . will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it,” said the Lord through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55:11.

“Just another book? Hardly. The Bible’s power rests upon the fact that it is the reliable, errorless, and infallible Word of God.”

Do you have hidden treasure just collecting dust? Pick it up and read it. But as Leonard Ravenhill once said, “Don’t just go through this book, but instead let this book go through you.”

You can more fully understand a book when you personally know the author. He can personally explain it to you. You can personally know the author of the Bible – God. Through receiving His Son Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. “But as many as received Him gave He power to become Sons of God, even as many as believed on His name” (John 1:12).