After 32 years of married life, too often I assume what Jim is going to say before he is even finished speaking. Israel had the same attitude toward God and Prophet Isaiah. When Isaiah spoke, they heard blah, blah, blah or as he put it, “Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there.” Isaiah 28:10
Sometimes I have the same attitude towards God. When I read God’s word and get rolling through the day, I can be dulled by routines and distracted by the immediate. I am rolling my eyes before the conversation has even started. The wonderful thing about my husband is that when I listen…really listen, he says something new. After 32 years with the man, I am still discovering new reasons why I love him. What is true about Jim is even truer with God. God wants to say new things to me; he longs to breathe new life into a weary, expectant soul:
“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say…All this comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.” Isaiah 23…29
“Therefor once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Isaiah 29:14
This is why I try to get to the Word every day. It’s not because I am self disciplined or trying to be a better person; it’s because I am fairly desperate for God to speak to me. God consistently uses his Word to start the day’s conversation. CS Lewis describes my condition in A Severe Mercy, “Think of me as a fellow patient in the same hospital who having been admitted a little earlier could give some advice.”
When God speaks, I fall more in love with him. My world changes, healing comes, beauty fills the dark and empty corners of my soul. Like marriage, some days I wake up and feel the love and some days, not so much, but I stay married and learn to love. That love transforms.
“Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and the farthest seas.” Psalm 65:4-5
So if you read this today, do yourself a favor and find your Bible. Read it with hope and expectation, even if just briefly, because God longs to bring us closer to him.
klueh
Sixty-six books in a year 