Jesus’ prayer, just hours before His arrest, are like famous last words.  This is what was on His heart as He prayed for His disciples.  Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.  John 17:17.   He loved His Father, loved the truth, and wanted scripture to live in His friends no matter what circumstances they would experience.

Some days, God’s Word feels like a feast and I treasure it.  Other days, when it convicts, I have to ask God to change my affections so that I can treasure it.

There are days when I’m prone to worry.  Do I delight in His words that address my fear?  There are moments that I’m depressed over my mistakes.  Do I take joy in His words that remind me of His daily mercies?  I’m prone to silently nurse a grudge.  Do I love His words about forgiveness?   I can easily be like a child who loves commandments that are appealing but despises those which tell me something I don’t want to hear.  Jesus loved and honored the Word with His whole heart and with His whole life.  He never struggled to want to love righteousness.

Every single day brings a set of circumstances that challenge my love for God’s ways.  I will not instinctively love His Word when it corrects me or causes me to stretch out of my comfort zone.  When Jesus beckons me to move out of a familiar set of emotions that aren’t good for me, though they are as comfortable as my favorite old shirt and a pair of jeans, I need to understand that the outfit is really a set of grave clothes.  Jesus calls every child to come out of the tomb into resurrection life.  Just like Him.  That sounds inspirational and appealing until I find how resistant I am to the Light.  When it exposes my darkness, I can be offended and never get over it.   With my poor choices, I show that I prefer to live in my tomb.  The ways of the flesh are the ways of death.  I know this, yet they’re just so ingrained in this fallen nature.  I must ask God, many times a day, to change my heart so that I embrace His ways.

As I trust God enough to push through my offense into obedience, I realize that I have found freedom.  Delighting, then, comes easily.

I need Your grace to desire Your Word every single time.   In Jesus name,  Amen