A cinnamon clove candle flickered, filling the air with the gentle warmth of its fragrance, as I sat in the stillness at the well. The outside world had not yet begun to stir and the hands of busyness had not yet started tugging at my thoughts, trying to pull me in this direction and that. Soon the world, in all its “loudness” would begin to press in, but for now I sat in the embrace of quietness at my favorite place to meet with the Lord. I looked around thinking of all the conversations He and I had shared in this very place. It was then I noticed Him walking the well worn path to the well and my heart was glad as He drew near and sat down.
“Good morning,” He said.
“Good morning, Lord,” I replied
I followed His gaze to where His Book lay open to the place I had been reading in Deuteronomy 30. Moses was addressing the people of Israel.
He held it in His hands and began to teach me. The very page seemed to breathe, the words living and active as He spoke and my heart hung on every word.
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NIV)
I thought about the many copies of His Book I had around the house and in my office, and yet I sometimes behaved as if they were in some far off country and I just couldn’t get to any of them. I thought of places in the world where God’s people huddled in dark, musty basements, risking their very lives in order to hear the Word of God. And I, well I allowed His precious Word to gather dust on the shelf.
“Oh,” I cried, my heart broken in His presence. I knelt at His feet and asked Him to forgive me and to breathe on the embers of my heart until it was ablaze in an undying love and passion for His Word.
“The word is very near you,” I heard Him say again.
My heart looked up at Him who gave all for me, and I whispered, “You are the Word, Lord.”
He carried my contrite heart with Him to John 1 where He continued to teach me about Himself.
When He had finished reading, we sat quietly as my heart took in all He had said. I began making a bit of a list of the things I learned about Him in John 1:1-14 and I decided to read it out loud to Him.
Jesus, You are:
Eternal
The Word
With God
God
Creator of all things
Life
The Light of the world
The Word made flesh
The only begotten from the Father
Full of grace and truth
There at the well, as the horizon began to blush at the coming day, He brought my heart back to where we had begun in Deuteronomy 30. His voice thundered through the heavens causing the birds to take flight, as the power of His word stirred my soul to worship as He said, “the Word is near!”
Dear one, are you daily in His Word, or is it gathering dust on your bedside table? My friend, before the day and all its tasks pull you hither and yon; will you not stop and sit awhile with Him? The Word is not far away. Indeed, the Word is near.
An Original Conversations at the Well
© Copyright by Diana Morgan February 3, 2012
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