Police Devotion 7-12-2017
“O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)
The psalm writer, who lived long ago, told God that he loves His law and meditates on it all day. You may ask, “What does that have to do with me?” If you know Jesus as Saviour, it’s important. God didn’t just give us His Word so we could read about how people served Him in times past. He also gave it to us to help us serve Him now. He loves people today as much as He loved people back then.
Do you love God’s law, the Bible? If you don’t and you’re honest enough to admit it, that’s good. Now if you want to love God’s Word more, the verse tells us how. The psalmist says: “O how love I thy law!” He obviously didn’t read the Bible just because “Christians are supposed to.” No, he actually enjoyed it! How did he get that way? How can we get that way? The verse tells how: he learned to meditate, or think, on God’s Word. In order to meditate on it, he started memorizing passages. He’d memorize, then think about what he’d memorized. So at any given time, even with no Bible in front of him, he’d have God’s Word.
Obviously, he enjoyed doing this because he got to a point when he meditated on it “all the day.” We don’t know how much Scripture he memorized, but it was probably a lot. It’s hard to imagine thinking on just one verse all day. But this is a way we learn to love God’s Word more—make a habit of Bible memorizing and meditation. Psalm 23 is a great place to start. It’s a well-known Scripture and not too long:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Memorize one verse perfectly, then two, then three, and so on, until you have all six. As you do this, and as you think about the words later, you force yourself to pay attention to God’s Word much more than if you just read it. Obviously, you won’t go around all day thinking about Scripture and nothing else, but when you commit Scriptures to memory, you can recall them from time to time and be helped by them.
If you get into this habit, you’ll learn to love God’s Word more. If you’re a cop, you’ll also feed your mind and heart with something better than all the junk you see every day. It will also help sharpen your memory. Most importantly, God promises to bless those who meditate on and obey His Word: “…thou shalt meditate therein [in God’s Word] day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). Get into this habit. See if God doesn’t honor His promise in your life and career.
Do you know for sure that you have an eternal home in heaven? The Bible tells you how you can! Please click “Helpful Links” on the top menu and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” on the dropdown menu to see how to receive Jesus as Saviour.
Brian Miller 7/12/2017
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822