Faves
About a year ago, one of the deacons was asking people for their favorite passages. We will, time got away from me and I didn’t email him my answer. But, in considering it for this devotion, I had to go a little deeper.
When my mom passed away, 10 years ago, my sister and I had to decide what to do with a household of stuff. One of the things I brought home to be a part of our house was a plaque:
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Then, over last Christmas, my wife and I travelled back to visit her parents. One of the days, I took a drive out to my parents grave marker. My dad passed away first, over 30 years ago so my mom had to pick their marker. On the marker she had this passage engraved:
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” - Isaiah 40:11
Unfortunately, I never asked my mom why these two passages were special to her. However, in both of them I see the hope and joy that I believe she felt in her savior.
But now, back to a favorite passage of mine. When we first moved to Topeka, I found this passage and liked it so much that I printed it on a slip of paper and taped it to the computer on my desk:
“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” - Psalm 147:1-6
Similar to my mom’s favorites, to me, this passage speaks hope and joy in that we have a savior that is sovereign over the entirety of creation. While, I may only be a small part of that creation, I am important to God.
I need to stop and state that if I had to pick a favorite passage today, twenty plus years later, I might pick a different passage. But that is only because that God has been working on me through the Bible over the passage of years. I feel like (at least I hope) I have gained some Bible weight over the years.
I can’t encourage you enough to, if you aren’t already, spend some time daily studying the word. One of my strongest memories of my mom was her telling me that the holocaust survivors reported that their ability to recite Bible passages help strengthen them and helped them survive their ordeal. We are living in a time where we can ingest the Bible and make it a part of our being. Who knows but God what we might have to go through in the future.
