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Key Bible Verse: These instructions are not mere words—they are your life! (Deuteronomy 32:47). Bonus Reading: Psalm 119:97–104

God's Word isn't simply for regulating your behavior; it's for making you a different person. It's to help you love the right things—including its Author.

Right now you may lack the passion of the psalmist, who declared, "I open my mouth, panting expectantly, longing for your commands" (119:131). If you find yourself without that burning desire to occupy yourself with God's truth, tell Him so. Ask Him to kindle such affection in you. That's not a request He's likely to deny.

The psalmist also said "Revive us so we can call on your name once more" (80:18). Even the most godly occasionally need reviving.

Devotion brings changes in the Christian life. George Washington Carver labored for years to explore the values of the peanut. Through countless hours of painstaking experiments, he discovered more than 150 products that could be drawn from that lowly plant and revolutionized the economy of the South in the process. When asked how he accomplished so much with the peanut, he replied in words whose application to meditation is obvious: "Anything will yield its secrets if you love it enough."

—Doug McIntosh in God Up Close

My Response: My primary Scripture need right now is (1) desire, (2) time, or (3) skill.

Thought to Apply: The Bible redirects my will, cleanses my emotions, enlightens my mind, and quickens my total being.
—E. Stanley Jones (missionary to India, 20th century)

Adapted from: God Up Close (Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute, 1998).

Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me regularly to go straight to Your Word and find direction and nourishment.

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