Wanna hear something cool?

“My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.”
-Proverbs 6:20

When Abraham came back from a particular battle, he met a man who was both priest and king. His name was Melchizedek. He appears for a few short verses in Genesis 14. It’s such a tiny part of the book that you forget it almost immediately, at least unless you know what it means.

The author of Hebrews, many centuries later, wrote extensively on how this man foreshadowed the coming of Christ. This tiny episode in the life of Abraham was put there very intentionally so that we would know something of Jesus.

I’ve been writing for almost twenty years of my life. I haven’t gotten much of it published, but I have written tens of thousands of words. And most of them were throwaway words. Most of them were only there to get me to the place I wanted to be.

The Bible isn’t like that, and the more I dig, the more I know that to be true. There was a purpose for that priest guy in Genesis – the same one that we may have thought was just a throw away character. It wasn’t just an episode to move the plot forward – it means something.

And it means something profound. The writer of Hebrews spends chapters on this guy, and theologians have spent books on what the writer of Hebrews was talking about. There is a depth here that cannot be compared. There is something, literally, divine behind its composition.

And so many people, even Christians, ignore it. Here we have the story about how God redeems His people, how He brings His purpose to fruition, and how His will is done in even the worst of times, and we think it’s boring.

Don’t ignore this. This is the teaching of your Father. Take it and learn it. Teach it to your children so they will not forsake it. It’s literally the story that brings life. There is no other book that can do that. God uses His word to bring about repentance and faith. It is by this that we are saved.

Without these words, I never would have known I had fallen short of the glory of God. I would have admitted to messing up some times, but I would not have known how offensive my mistakes were. I never would have known that I cannot earn Heaven on my own. I never would have known I needed a Savior.

This Book is His story – the story of Jesus. This is the man who left Heaven, came to earth, and died to take the punishment for our sins. This is His story. If I never heard that story, how would I have known to bow before Him?

Read it. Learn about Him. If you are unfamiliar with the Bible, start in John and Romans. Work out from there. Pray for wisdom. When the Spirit reveals the truth to you, you will be amazed at the depth in there.