Seeking Him: 12 Days to Spiritual RevivalSample

Day 12: The Personal Devotional Life

In a familiar passage in Luke’s gospel, we encounter two sisters, one of whom understood (and the other needed to learn) the importance of keeping “first things first.” Read the passage below and then meditate on it:

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42 NKJV)

Martha was distracted, “pulled apart,” by all her meal preparations. What are some of the things that distract you and keep you from “sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him”? What changes do you need to make in your schedule, lifestyle, or priorities to allow you to spend adequate time “sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him speak”?

The idea of spending time alone with God each day may be new to you, or it may be something you have done in the past. Here are some suggestions to help you develop (or restart) a daily devotional time with God.

Your devotional life should consistently include time in the Word, prayer, and worship. However, at times, you may want to incorporate other activities, such as:

• keeping a journal
• praying about and making important decisions
• writing notes of thanks and encouragement
• arranging or rearranging your schedule (praying about what to do and when)
• singing hymns and praise choruses
• giving to others (determining what, how much, to whom)
• memorizing Scripture

Those who love and follow God’s Word will be blessed—that is the theme of Psalm 119.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart. (Psalm 119:1–2)

In Ezra, we find a biblical example of a man who was intentional about getting to know God through His Word. According to Ezra 7:10, this was not something he took lightly:

Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

Ezra did not have a casual attitude toward God’s Word. He was serious about studying and meditating on it, obeying it, and reproducing it in the lives of others.

A consistent intake of Scripture (reading, memorizing, meditating, studying, etc.) can have both a corrective and a preventive result. God’s Word can instruct us, confront wrong thinking or behavior, correct and redirect us when we’re wayward, and equip us for service in His kingdom (2 Timothy 3:16–17). All humankind’s accumulated knowledge cannot compare to the pure and plain wisdom of God’s holy Word.

Above all, through the written Word, illuminated by the Spirit of God, we come to know Christ, the Living Word, in a deep and personal way. Your relationship with Christ will never be any greater than your relationship with His Word! It is a loss to deprive ourselves of the abundant riches readily available in His Word.

Reading God’s Word is the starting place for developing a growing relationship with Him.

Take time today to do what Mary did in Luke 10—to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His Word. You may already have a method or plan selected to guide you in your personal devotions. There is no “right way” to have your devotional time—remember, the goal is to cultivate a relationship with God, not to check your devotions off your “to-do” list.

For a more in-depth study on reviving your walk with God, see Seeking Him by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Tim Grissom.