Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading titled Illustrating Scripture was written by Cindy Hess Casper.

Decorative blue and white ceramic tiles commonly found in Dutch households were originally made in the city of Delft.

They often depict familiar scenes of the Netherlands, beautiful landscapes, ubiquitous windmills,

and people working and playing.

In the 19th century, Charles Dickens wrote in his book A Christmas Carol, how these tiles were used to illustrate the scriptures.

He described an old fireplace built by a Dutchman paved with these quaint delft tiles.

There were canes and abels, Pharaoh's daughters, queens of Sheba, and apostles putting off to sea.

Many households use these tiles as a teaching tool as the family gathered around the warmth

of a fire and shared stories of the Bible.

They learned about God's character, his justice, compassion, and mercy. The truths of the Bible continue to be

relevant today. Psalm 78 encourages us to teach the hidden lessons from our past, stories we've

heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. It goes on to instruct us to tell the next generation the praiseworthy

deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done, and they in turn can tell their children.

With God's help, we can find creative and effective ways to illustrate the truths of Scripture

to each generation,

as we strive to give God the full honor and praise he deserves.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Psalm 78 verses 1 through 8.

My people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable.

I will utter hidden things, things from of old, things we have heard and known, things our ancestors

have told us, we will not hide them from their descendants. We will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,

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