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Listen while you read: "Jesus Saviour Pilot Me"1 (Lyrics) |
Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (NIV)
My toddler granddaughter loves prune plums. My daughter buys the canned ones, as they are much softer and easier for the baby to eat. Not long ago when I was minding the baby, I had to open up a new can of plums for her breakfast. I fished out two and then cut each of them into four pieces for her breakfast. After she was finished and I was wiping down her pocket bib, I was horrified to discover a prune plum pit. My first thought was, Thank goodness she didn't swallow that! After breakfast, I emptied the remainder of the can of plums into the container that my daughter uses to store them in the refrigerator and realized that the plums were not pitted. Oh my, I thought, and the baby had two plums. Well, as you can imagine, I had some anxious moments over the next two days until the little one presented me with that second pit when I changed her diaper.
So, what on earth does this have to do with anything spiritual? Well, I think, perhaps for me, quite a bit. You see, when I gave her the plums for breakfast, I didn't have my glasses on. But when I was putting them into the refrigerator container, I did, and this time, those pits didn't get past me. Seeing as they were the same colour as the plums and quite slippery, it was easy for those pits to get by me the first time — not so easy the second time. I have also found this when I am reading Scripture. When I am just sitting and reading for my quiet time, hidden truths often slip by me unnoticed. But when I take the time to study a passage, to do a bit of research on something I don't understand, to meditate upon it, or to discuss it with others, it is like having spiritual glasses on. What I had not seen at first within the passage or verse suddenly becomes much clearer. I often discover something important that I had missed, which gives me a whole new or deeper understanding about God or the things that He requires of us. Unlike plum pits, which need to be removed, God's hidden truths are gems meant to be digested into our lives.
So, after my lesson with the pitted plums, I think I will make a concentrated effort to work a little harder concerning wearing my spiritual glasses when I have my quiet times with Scripture. How about you? Are you seeing God's truth as clearly as you would like to, or could you benefit from some spiritual glasses, too?
Prayer: Lord God, help us to really want to see the hidden truths within Your Word. May we be willing to meditate and research and discuss the Scriptures with others, that we might be more deeply blessed as we discover spiritual gems just waiting to be unearthed. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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Amen to your prayer. Great analogy.
Good encouragement and application, Lynne.
Not only did the Lord give you great insight in this incident, I think he took care of that pit too!
Dear Nan:
Beautiful, wise and true words. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Lynne for sharing your insights into our need to study and digest God’s Word. Blessings.
Shalom! May the only true Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you and those you love, as much as you love Him and those He loves.
Funny where our lessons come from, isn’t it? Jesus used everyday things around him to tell the people about God. All creation declares Him. So awesome!
Dear Lynne,
What a blessing your devotional was to me this morning. Thank you for reminding me how often God uses the common everyday happenings to teach us extraordinary spiritual truths. Blessings on your day.
Well, Lynne, that devotional has to be one of the best. You hit the nail on the head. Sometimes it is so easy to think, “Well, I have read that Bible passage today and now I can move onto something else” without giving it the proper attention.
Thanks and so glad the granddaughter cooperated!
Dear Lynne,
I just came to this same conclusion a couple of days ago. When I read a passage from the Bible with a devotional connected to it, I see a lot more in that passage than when I am just reading the Bible. I need to use my Spiritual glasses more and not rely on someone else pointing it out to me. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your devotional on putting on spiritual eye glasses when we read the scriptures. John Calvin referred to the eye glasses of the Holy Spirit, and part of that is also in Psalm 46:10 which instructs us to be still and know! I am amazed at how much I miss at times but am in my third year of reading 1 Proverb and 5 Psalms every day. Keep on writing those devotionals and putting on those spiritual glasses!!
Greetings Lynne,
Many thanks for the devotional this morning. Such good advice about “spiritual glasses”.
Amazing things that we can discover in God’s word when we take a second or more in depth look at what the real meaning of His word is to us.
Blessings,
(B.C.)
Dear Lynne,
Thank you for a very insightful devotional this very stormy day in southern Ontario. It had several different emotions… humour, fear, love and dedication.
A lesson on how to study, too.
A lesson I learned many years ago when studying Scripture. Three times I carefully read the key verse[s]. Each time it becomes just that much clearer.
Every blessing,
Great analogy, Lynne.
Our bible study times at church continually present opportunities for us to discover some of those precious gems you referred to.
Thank you for reminding us to take time to search for God’s truths that often lie just beneath the surface of scriptures that we have memorized and grown up with over the years. They are rich with new meaning each time we go back to them.
Blessings to finding another gem today.
Lynn – I loved this analogy. Thanks for the devotional – it was just what I needed. Hope all is well. God Bless.
Hi Lynn,
A good devotional yesterday, we do indeed quite often just read and not soak it up as it were.
Thank you for writing.