Day 5 :: Make God’s Word your delight

Dear Girls,

I cannot express to you how deeply precious God’s Word is to me and how much I want this for each of you.  I long for you to know God, believe in Him, love Him, obey Him and follow Him no matter what.

So, I will do my best to teach you and guide you and point you to Him.  We will probably require you to read your Bible and memorize Scripture.  As your parents, that’s our job.  Sometimes you won’t want to; that’s okay.

But, I will tell you that if you keep reading and opening yourself up to what God’s Word has to say, it will become a delight to your soul.

I know, because that is my story.  So, I’ll share with you here the ways in which God’s Word became true life and breath and hope for my soul.

1. Make reading God’s Word a priority.  For me, this began when I was 12 years old.  At first, daily Bible reading was just something I was taught to do.  We had incentives in youth group for being consistent and filling out a Bible reading journal each day.  So, as a rule-follower and semi people-pleaser this came easily to me.

As time went on, though, I began to enjoy reading the Bible.  I remember struggling with various issues in high school and finding comfort and strength from the things I was learning in my devotions each day.  I began to look to God’s Word for guidance in decision-making and relationships with my peers.  Yes, I still filled in my journal and received the incentives that were offered in our youth group, but God’s Word became alive to me as I made it a priority and a discipline in my daily life.

In college I began a new journal system of prayer and Bible reading together, working my way through books of the Bible at my own pace.   I’m a morning person (you probably realize this by now), so getting up before my first class each day was fairly easy, and it was during this phase of life that coffee became my Bible companion.  My day began with the Lord and that time with Him had become so precious that I didn’t want to miss it.

Motherhood has made this a bit more challenging.  I’m not guaranteed quiet mornings when I want them, and often times one of you ends up in my lap or next to me on the couch.  That’s why I get up before any of you.  I don’t always feel like it.  Many days, especially when you were infants, I would rather hit snooze and sleep until mid-morning.  But when I did, I would get thrown off balance.  I would miss that sacred time and I would find my soul floundering to make sense of anything.

Time in God’s Word has become not just a habit but a necessity.

2. Read a Proverb every day. This is really simple because there are 31 chapters, so each month you can read the chapter that corresponds with that day of the month. I’ve been doing this just about every day for the past 20 years and it has been so helpful.

3. Pay attention to the teaching of God’s Word.  We’re going to take you to church and you’ll sit through sermons and Sunday school lessons.  It might be boring sometimes and there will be days when you wish you were playing outside or still sleeping instead of going to church.  Trust me, I feel that way sometimes.  But it’s important.  So, even when you don’t feel like being in church, pay attention.  Color a picture about what you hear the Pastor teaching.  Listen to the stories you hear in Sunday school.  When you get old enough, take notes.  Reading God’s Word on your own is powerful.  Listening to someone else teach about it is powerful, and necessary.  And it’s one of the ways that God uses His Word to convict and shape us.

4. Learn how to study the Bible.  I’d love to do this with you.  And when you become more comfortable reading, we’re going to start studying together.  Yes, you will learn from God’s Word by just reading verses, thinking on them and going on with your day.  But there’s much more to be discovered.  We’ll look at Bible dictionaries, commentaries, books on history during Bible times.  Together we’ll ask questions and pray our way through truly understanding what the Bible says and how it still applies to our lives today.  This is a life-long journey, but one that I pray you will continue on.

5. Discuss with us things you don’t understand.  Anytime you have a question, a doubt, if something doesn’t make sense, just ask.  We might not always know the answer, but it would be a joy to talk through it with you.  Please, don’t ever be afraid to come to us with your thoughts.

6. Ask God to give you a delight in His Word.  God wants us to treasure His Word.  Simply ask Him to make His Word your truest delight.

I’ve been reading through Psalm 119 over the past couple of weeks, so I’ll leave with you a few of my favorite verses:

Psalm 119:24 “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.”

Psalm 119:32 “I will run in the way of your commandments.”

Psalm 119:59 “When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.”

Psalm 119:71-72 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.  The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
Oh, how I pray that you would not just plod along in obedience to the Lord but that you would run after God’s ways.  This begins in His Word and it will continue on as you learn to delight in Truth.

I love each of you girls.

Remain in God’s Word.

Love,
Mommy

This is Day 5 of a series “Lessons for my Daughters”.  Click here for a complete list of posts.