I love to watch movies where the characters have to go on an adventure that not only leads them somewhere, but the quest changes their inner character too. Along the way, they may encounter a door that needs a password or a key so they can move on to the next part of their journey. Sometimes though, it isn’t the lack of a password or a hidden key that denies them entry to the treasures behind hidden doors and passageways, it is their attitudes, and the guide in the story usually tells the characters that the deep secrets are theirs for the taking if they just change their approach.    

Faith can feel like a continuing quest sometimes, where you need to tackle mountains and valleys, cross rivers, and streams and let the journey bring an inner transformation to your character. Your approach to each step slowly changes you when you understand when you said, “yes” to the adventure, you’re going to experience something which leaves you changed forever. 

The map we carry with us along the perilous and amazing journey of faith is a book called the Bible, and it holds keys to secrets that help us along our path. Hanna E. Farwell comments on the Bible’s truths and says, “It is a locked-up secret to those who approach it in the wrong way, but at the same instant, it is wide open to the open-hearted- the amazing, deep secrets of God hidden in the pages of the Bible, [and it’s] ours for the taking.” 

It’s sad when mindsets and beliefs seal the door to the wonderful mysteries of God. Disbelief, distrust, and fear can lock up the treasures the Bible holds within its pages, as the invitation to discover its truths is denied. But access is ours for the taking when we approach the gateway to God’s heart with the right attitude. 

So, what attitude is right? Psalm 100:4 solves this mystery with, ‘Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.’ Could thanksgiving be the approach to unlocking the secret gems that are ours for the taking? 

Yes indeed! But don’t get too excited because, with all good stories, there is a villain, an enemy, a snake in the grass that follows behind us as he watches our attitudes change so we can claim God’s treasures that have always been ours for the taking. He plans to keep reminding us that there is no point to the quest, no reason to carry on along the path, and no purpose in our steps because nothing God is offering us will ever be ours for the taking. 

Our adversary prowls around making sure all the hope we hold on to that could unravel heaven’s secrets is pure made-up fantasy from our thinking and our own beliefs, calling us “foolish” when we dare to believe that all the precious stones we find that are named righteousness, sanctification, and redemption behind the secret door are all truly ours for the taking.

Nevertheless, when we ignore the villain’s taunts and choose to enter into the pages of the Bible with an attitude of gratitude, we don’t just have the password of Psalm 100:4, we have also discovered the key that leads us to the heart of God. 

‘Brothers and sisters, consider who you were when God called you to salvation. Not many of you were wise scholars by human standards, nor were many of you in positions of power. Not many of you were considered the elite when you answered God’s call. But God chose those whom the world considers foolish to shame those who think they are wise, and God chose the puny and powerless to shame the high and mighty. He chose the lowly, the laughable in the world’s eyes-nobodies- so that he would shame the somebodies. For he chose what is regarded as insignificant to supersede what is regarded as prominent so that there would be no place for prideful boasting in God’s presence.’ 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.     

Something shifts in our thinking when we discover God chose us, not because of our academic qualities, but because we just answered His knock on the door to our hearts. When we accept that He called us by name and said, “you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1) we can approach the Bible with the right attitude and discover truths that were once hidden.

Yes, the Guide along our journey will teach us and train us, correct us and shape us but every hidden treasure is ours for the taking.

So, are you ready for the adventure? 

Wendy xo 

Do you truly believe that all the treasures found in the pages of scripture are all yours for the taking? 

I pray today, that you will enter in the pages of God’s Word with thanksgiving and praise as you find the password and key to open the hidden door that holds many treasures in the chapters that are all yours for the taking.