The morning coffee takes time to brew. Grandma’s soup needs to simmer. Tea needs to steep. And bread dough needs time to rise.
When I write a blog post or devotional, or start creating a notecard design - it all starts with a little piece of something that has crossed my mind. Yet I only see it in part. But if I sit with it, it starts developing and taking shape. It’s in the sitting that it develops. And not by my own efforts. It is God. But I have to make myself present, available, and open to believe God will speak to me in order to receive the riches of the message.
Writers, artists, and yes, the preacher’s sermon all take time too. They don’t just sit down one day and quickly hammer something out. It always starts with just a piece, a fragment that gets revisited time and time again - allowing God to work and develop His message.
Whether its the soup or the sermon, these things become richer, deeper, more favorful with time. More memorable. More meaningful. Filling your senses. If you really want the fullness of it, you need to commit to it. Mostly time.
And so, what am I leading you to with all this? I am pleading the case of spending true meditative time in God’s Word. Read a few verses until something catches your eye. And pause. Jot down a thought as you reflect on why God would nudge you with that particular phrase or verse. Ask God what does it mean to you personally in this time and place of your life. Why did that certain phrase speak… something caught your attention in that moment. Engage your senses. Visualize. Listen. Let God’s Word simmer. Steep. Rise!
Sit with it like you would your morning coffee. Like your first real sigh upon arriving at the lake. Take it all in. Let it linger. Let it speak to you. The Word of God can give you a similar peaceful, calming, even joyful feeling. You will miss it if you rush through your Bible reading for the sake of saying you read your Bible. But, oh, the wonder and wonderful sensation of having holy God reveal something personally to you if we let Him!
“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah 55:11 NLT
“And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 NLT
“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 NLT
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