Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Listen to the Word
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8)

What do you expect to happen when you read Scripture? Do you expect that you will learn some new facts about the Moabites, or get a magic 8 ball-style answer to a problem, or just be able to check it off your to-do list?

How about encountering the God who made you? How about hearing the voice and knowing the heart of your heavenly Father? God wants you to meet him in the pages of the Bible. The Bible is more than a book, more than a passive object for you to study. It is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). Through what you read, God may just step into the mess of your world and offer words of wisdom or comfort or confrontation or whatever it is that you need. You should expect that to happen. Approach the Bible anticipating an encounter with God.

Live the Word
Each time you read the Bible this week, begin your reading by asking God to meet with you in what you read.