Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Too busy to pray and study the Bible? Driven by work, by duty, family to support, classes to attend and study for, fall into bed exhausted each night--then you suddenly remember, "I've neglected God! Haven't prayed for ... (you fill in the blanks--days, weeks, whatever); in fact, I haven't seen my Bible for ... (you fill in the blanks); I can't even find it, where did I leave it? I just don't have time to keep up my devotional life."
And then some preacher comes along and puts another burden on you, "If you want to be saved, you must (1) pray, (2) study, (3) witness ... You MUST!" And so you try. But prayer seems empty, Bible study a bore, and witnessing--forget it; what can YOU witness to anyone! Like Joseph and Mary who forgot Jesus and left the little Boy in Jerusalem while busy--like they started home (Luke 2:43-45), it'll take you now "many days to find Him again," says even your favorite author. Maybe it's too late now to find Him. God and His people have moved on and you are way behind. Can you ever catch up?
Right now is a critical time for you. You've come to a crisis: are you going to re-establish an Old Covenant way of thinking and resolve to work harder at your devotional life? If so, it'll be successful--yes, for a few days or weeks at least. Camp meeting, seminars, woke you up. "Never again will I neglect (1) prayer, (2) Bible study, (3) witnessing ... until well, I hope I don't get 'busy' again."
Let's understand the New Covenant: overwhelmed by your frustration and sense of failure, BELIEVE: (1) The Savior has not forgotten you; (2) He is seeking you, not waiting for you to seek Him; (3) believe His promise He made to your "father," Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; Rom. 4:16; he got busy, too!); (4) the Father is doing the same thing to you that He did to Jesus--knocking on your door "morning by morning, wakening [your] ear to hear as the learned" (Isa. 50:4). He actually loves you; now don't be "rebellious" (see vs. 5).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
