The beautiful song by George Beverly Shea stirs our minds and hearts: “There’s the wonder of sunset at evening, the wonder of sunrise I see. But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that God loves me. There’s the wonder of springtime and harvest, the skies, the stars and the sun. But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that’s only begun. O the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all, just to know that God loves me.”
“Wonder” is defined as “A person, thing or event that causes astonishment, admiration and marvel because of its novelty, grandeur or inexplicableness.” The Bible is filled with characteristics of our Lord that describe how amazing, marvelous and wonderful He is.
There is the wonder of creation found in Genesis when God is said to have stood on nothing and to have spoken the world into existence. Then he formed the human body from the dust of the ground and gave it life. Then we see the wonder of God’s great love as He provided forgiveness when mankind had sinned.
His Word, the Holy Bible, is wonderful in its power and I Peter 1:23 tells us we are born again “by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” We find in John 6:63 that His words “are Spirit, and they are life.”
Isaiah 9:6 declares that our Lord’s name is wonderful. His name is the name that is above every other name and we see in Acts 4:30 that wonders are done by the power of His name. His grace is wonderful and it is greater than all our sin. God’s eternal home for the child of God after this life is wonderful. Won’t it be wonderful there?
Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life, however, we lose the wonder of it all. When this happens God has the remedy.
The believer can lose the wonder of the joy of salvation. This happens when we neglect a close daily walk of fellowship with our Lord. The good news is that we can get the wonder back by drawing near to God which allows Him to draw near to us as promised in James 4:8.
We, also, can lose the wonder and amazement of the Word of God, the Bible, and what a great and wondrous book it is! This happens when we fail to read it every day and to keep its words in our minds and heart. My Friend, when we grow cold toward God’s Word, we can just read it until it burns in our heart and once again we will live it every day in our life.
A third thing that can happen is when we lose the wonder of going to the house of God. Again, we find ourselves here when we neglect gathering with God’s people in His house. The cure for this is to simply go, get involved and invite others to go with you.
David knew how to keep from losing the wonder and he told us how in Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty (wonder) of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”
Isn’t He wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Let’s not lose the wonder of it all.
Randy Zinn is pastor of Russell Missionary Baptist Church, Russell, Ark.; formerly of Okmulgee.
