{"id":35399,"date":"2023-05-27T03:30:41","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T10:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35399"},"modified":"2023-05-24T16:37:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T23:37:50","slug":"may-27-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/05\/27\/may-27-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"May 27, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Devour His Word<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.\u201d Psalm 119:15<\/em><\/p>\n

When my mother visits, she loves to go to our downtown Main Street to shop in a certain tightly-packed store that sells odds and ends of antiques, metal sculptures, Christmas ornaments, garden decor, stationery, scarves, and what-have-you.<\/p>\n

One day, it seemed to be taking us hours to get through this small establishment. My mother gazed at each item in each section, passing over nothing. I was impatient to finish and get to the diner across the street for our traditional slice of pie and a cup of coffee before we went home. I didn\u02bct want to rush her, yet she noticed I had lost interest.<\/p>\n

She said by way of explanation, \u201cI don\u02bct just look. I devour.\u201d This gave me pause. My habit is to look; hers is to devour. She is an artist, and examines textures, hues, shades, styles. When I would say, \u201cThat\u02bcs a nice table,\u201d she would say, \u201cLook at this fine craftsmanship, the grain of the wood, the turn of the legs.\u201d It reminded her of a table in her grandmother\u02bcs living room back on the farm in Missouri, and off she went in reminiscence. While I would just have looked at a thing, perhaps making a quick judgment about it, or perhaps ignoring it altogether and walking right on by to the next thing, my mother was making connections. She was connecting to her past, to her feelings, to the next painting she would create. She basked in craftsmanship, in beauty, in meaning, in memories.<\/p>\n

I made a mental note of the concept of devouring, instead of just browsing\u2014gazing long enough at a thing to get its essence, to feel it making a difference in me. To consider its maker, why it was made, what it was used for. To not walk past something just because I had seen it before. To not always be looking for something new to pique my interest, hurrying by without considering what I was seeing.<\/p>\n

It was then I realized that in my devotional times with the Lord, I had been only browsing. Glancing. Shopping around for the next exciting thing. Looking without seeing. Read a verse, a chapter, a book, then check it off the to-do list, and move on. Say a quick prayer, not stopping to listen, to seek, to be involved. Move on. Life is busy. Time is money.<\/p>\n

Do you do this? The evidence may be that you are not content to stay with a section of scripture because you\u02bcve \u201calready read it\u201d or \u201calready studied that,\u201d or you\u02bcre \u201cbored\u201d by Bible reading. I encourage you to slow down, read and re-read, ask the Lord to give you the mind of Christ as you read, maybe write the scripture down in a journal and talk it over with the Lord. His Word will come alive as you stop browsing and start devouring!<\/p>\n

Your Words shine light on our path in this life. Help us develop the habit of really examining what You are saying to us. May I not miss a thing that You want me to see! Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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