My husband has been preaching for many years, and I remember nearly every sermon he shares. Perhaps because I am partial to his thoughts. Perhaps because I know his heart.
He shares in a matter-of-fact way. He takes the Word of God and asks us to look at what it says. He doesn’t embellish or dramatize it. He keeps it at face value.
Once he asked one of our favorite friends what he preached earlier that week. It was so fun to watch them squirm and move uncomfortably in their seats. Until they finally squeaked out the answer.
It was such a fun “put you on the spot moment” that we (the 4 of us) still laugh about today.
But the thing is, Richard preached once about breakfast. And this is how it went…
Do you remember what you ate for breakfast this morning? Yesterday? A week ago? A month ago? A year ago?
For some of the answers, you may clearly be able to say, “Yes. I remember what I had for breakfast today and yesterday. A week ago? A month ago? A year ago? Nope. No way!”
And Richard proceeded…Even if you don’t remember what you ate for breakfast a month or a year ago does not mean that WHAT you ate did not nourish you.
It nourished your body so that you had fuel to keep going.
The Word of God is like that.
Just because you don’t remember what it was you heard this morning, what it was your read yesterday, or even a month ago, does not mean that the Word of God is not at work nourishing and feeding your soul, acting as the fuel we need to keep going strong.
I try and begin each and every day in God’s Word. By the end of breakfast, however, I have a hard time remembering my name much less what I read earlier that morn. But I always recall what my husband said, “Just because I don’t recall what it was I read, does not mean that it did not act as a refreshing spring for my soul.”
Thankfully, I love to take notes while I read. And, therefore, when I want to go back, I can look and see what spoke to my heart.
Today it was from the Message, and here is the passage:
Friends, I pray that each day as you devour your breakfast you remember that while breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so is starting the day off with the Word of God.
And while we may neither remember what we ate nor what we read, we go into the day knowing we started it off right, “…with foundational words to build our lives upon!” (The Message Chapter 7)
Amen.