Wednesday, November 4, 2009

reading the Good Samaritan daily

If you're like me, I can read a passage of Scripture everyday for say, four days in a row, when my mind begins to tell myself that it "knows" the passage now and that I don't really need to engage in that portion of my daily devotional guide anymore.

My temptation is to read the story on the lefthand side of the Challenges for the Heart booklet, read the question and the "live it out" challenge, and shortcut the Scripture and prayer portions of the daily guide. Why is that? I don't know why that is exactly, but what I do know is that if I resist that temptation and actually engage myself in that Scripture and in prayer, then my focus tends to align right. Without the Scripture and prayer, my focus goes to people...myself, others, earthly things. When I persist in the reading, meditating, and praying, my mind gets set on God and things above, and I'm in a much better posture to hear from Him and allow Him to grow my heart.

One of the most difficult and important challenges of these 21 days may be to be disciplined in reading, engaging, reflecting on the same Scripture everyday for 21 days. It may be in taking time to pray and listen to what God may be speaking to us through this series. If we will only persist in taking the time to draw near to God each day, I believe that He will be faithful to draw near to us!

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