When I was a student in school reading was not a significant factor in my life. My Grandmother taught the Second Grade at Rock Springs School in Denver, North Carolina. She would read the Bible through each year and was a faithful student of truth until she died at the age of ninety-nine. Her influence on my life was revolutionary in the aspect of being a learner and being one who pursued Jesus as Lord. Reading and studying was major for her and when I got saved and was called to preach it became the focus of my calling.
The discipline of meditation and reading God's Word has become almost lost among those who claim to love the Lord. There are so many voices from the world that speak loudly and frequently that would distract us from the time that all of us need with the Lord in His Word.
Let me challenge you to spend time with the Lord daily. Stephen F. Olford emphasized in his preaching the importance of the quiet time or what others would call "the devotional life." In fact when he went to preach in chapel at Wheaton College outside of Chicago he preached a sermon titled "Manna in the Morning." This sermon influenced a man by the name of Jim Elliott to start a journaling during his quiet time. Because of that Sermon we now have an amazing book by Jim Elliott called the Journals of Jim Elliott. The quiet time is an appointment that I have sought to keep daily as my love relationship and fellowship have developed in my forty years of walking with the Lord. The blessing of an open Bible with an obedient heart is a work of grace that I have enjoyed. Take time today to listen to the Lord by spending quality time in His presence and love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
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