Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Wednesday’s Devotion: What Matters Most



Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (CEV)  Memorize his laws  and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning.  Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them.  Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.

For me this has always been a very visual scripture. During our trip to the Holy Land we saw how these instructions are being lived out today.  On the trip over I awoke early in the morning on the plane to see the many Hasidic Jewish men on the plane standing in the aisles praying with phylacteries (small square boxes) on their foreheads, straps on their arms and prayer shawls around their shoulders. It’s kind of freaky to see this sight in person at 4:30 AM. We encountered the same thing on the return trip. While it looked strange to me, I still admired their dedication to the tenets of their faith.  While we may not be as strict in observing spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, Bible study and worship it is certainly a good thing to develop regular habits in our faith walk.  If we can establish routines for these disciplines they will soon become habits and these habits will become second nature. When prayer becomes as natural as breathing out and breathing in, lives are changed.  I hope that you will each continue to give God some of your time each day. Since you are reading this devotion, you have made a good start.
Gracious God, life gets so busy and we are so weary that we often put off spending time in your Word and in prayer.  Forgive us our neglect and guide us to a way to find more time for these things that matter the most in your kingdom.  We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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