Daily Devotion

May 21, 2006

Psalms 119:162  I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

It is our God-given human nature to appreciate, cherish and protect the fruit of our labor and hard work more than what is simply given to us for free. Salvation is free.  There is nothing we can do to earn it; nothing we can do to annul it.  It’s like birth--once it happens, you can die, but it cannot “un-happen”.  But to be nourished by the Word takes effort and will, and it is our responsibility same.  

The treasures of the Word are found through hard work, laboring in study and/or prayer.  The first battle is to realize the need; that you cannot live without it.  Next, the fight is against the odds and business of your daily schedule that have decreed that you don’t have time for the Word.  You need to prioritize; fight for the conviction that the gain of this investment will give you more wisdom than reading any other “how-to” magazine; more class than any other fashion review; more entertainment than all the fiction and mystery books in the world.  Once this battle is won, and you finally sit down to dig for the cherished treasure, as your spirit relaxes in the arms of your Lord, being so unused to this quiet and calm atmosphere, the devil comes to you with a spirit of drowsiness and sleep.  You have to stand up, drink a glass of water, take a breath of fresh air, rebuke this spiritual drowsiness.  You even read the same passage several times, because you feel that it has a value and importance that eroded you.

After a couple of hours, after the darkness of a great fight, the light comes as some truth downs on you; a concept is conceived; a spiritual principle was uncovered and you are happy; you rejoice as one who has found great reward.  You fought a good fight, and you won!  You feel as one who fought a great war and divides the spoil with the princes--as one who searched long and hard at the bottom of the ocean and finally found the hidden treasure; as one who has loved long and true, and whose love has finally been requited.

And my friend there is more to this idea.  It is a paradox, but while believing that what was not worth fighting for does not own much value, our lazy nature does like easy gains.  But in your appetite for the Word, rely not only on the processed and “pastor-ized” foods (the foods already processed by your local pastor).  It is the sick and weak who only eat easily chewed soft foods, because they cannot “stomach” the meat of the Word in their lives that the true Pastor, Jesus, can and will give them individually.  The personal digging and searching for the precious Word will take you to that level of understanding truth that is hard to hear, truth that challenges every iota of comfort in your soul (John6:60).  But that truth my friend, that coarse barley bread of the Word, is where the strong nourishment that your soul desperately needs is found.  

Consider the quality of your Word time, the decisive factor in the outcome of the war in your life and service for the Lord.  Time spent sharpening the sword is not wasted!
  
Matthew 13:3-8  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  (4)  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  (5)  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  (6)  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  (7)  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  (8)  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Matthew 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matthew 13:45-46  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:  (46)  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Luke 15:8-9  Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?  (9)  And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

Patrick Lumbroso
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