Words that point us to Christ are always words that matter.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes . . . this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

Early in my days of working as an editor for Our Daily Bread, I selected the cover verse for each month’s devotional. After a while, I began to wonder if it made a difference.

Not long after that, a reader wrote and described how she had prayed for her son for more than twenty years, yet he wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Then one day he stopped by to visit her, and he read the verse on the cover of the booklet that sat on her table. The Spirit used those words to convict him, and he gave his life to Jesus at that very moment.

I don’t recall the verse or the woman’s name. But I’ll never forget the clarity of God’s message to me that day. He had chosen to answer a woman’s prayers through a verse selected nearly a year earlier. From a place beyond time, He brought the wonder of His presence to my work and His words.

John the disciple called Jesus “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). He wanted everyone to know what that meant. “We proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us,” he wrote of Jesus (v. 2). “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v. 3).

There is nothing magical in putting words on a page. But there is life-changing power in the words of Scripture because they point us to the Word of life—Jesus.

Thank You, Father, that Your Word is living and powerful!

能让我们认识基督的话语，便是至关重要的话语。

论到从起初原有的生命之道，就是我们所听见、所看见、亲眼看过、亲手摸过的。-约翰一书1章1节

早年我担任英文《灵命日粮》的编辑，负责挑选封面上的经文。不久，我开始怀疑，换不同的经文是否有必要。

过后有一天，我接到一位读者的来信，信中提到她虽已为她的儿子祷告超过二十年，但她的儿子仍不愿接受耶稣。直到有一天，她儿子去探望她，看到桌上有本《灵命日粮》。当他读了封面上的圣经金句，圣灵使用这节经文引领他归主，而且他就在那一刻将自己的生命献给耶稣。

我忘了那段经文和那位读者的名字，但我永远忘不了那一天上帝的信息清楚地临到我。《灵命日粮》封面上的经文，几乎是在出刊的前一年就已经选定，上帝仍能使用这节经文，回应这位母亲的祷告。早在事情还没有发生之前，上帝就已经准备让我在工作上和祂的话语中，经历到祂奇妙的同在。

使徒约翰称耶稣为“生命之道”（约翰一书1章1节） ，为了让我们知道这话的含义，他说：“我们……将原与父同在，且显现与我们那永远的生命传给你们”（2节） ，“我们将所看见、所听见的传给你们，使你们与我们相交”（3节） 。

将话语印在书上，原不是什么神奇之事。但圣经的话语却带有改变生命的大能，能将我们引向生命之道──主耶稣。

感谢天父，因祢的话语活泼且大有能力。

1 John 1:1-4

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

整理：于姊妹