I will meditate on your precepts
and contemplate your ways. Psalm 119.15 The habit of laying
up a text of scripture in the morning to be meditated upon
while engaged in the business of this world through the day
is both profitable and delightful. It is as a refreshing cordial
to a weary traveler. Nothing is more helpful and practical
in Christian living than the habit of getting a verse or phrase
of scripture into the mind and heart in the morning. Its influence
stays through the day, weaving itself into all the day's thoughts
and words and experiences. Every verse in the Bible is meant
to help us to live, and a good devotional book opens up the
precious teachings which are folded up in its words. A devotional book which takes
a scripture text and so opens it for us in the morning, that
all day long it helps us to live, becoming a true lamp to our feet
and a staff to lean upon when the way is rough, is the very
best devotional help we can possibly have. What we need in a devotional
book, which will bless our lives, is the application of the great
teachings of the scripture to common, daily, practical life. His delight is in the law of
the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1, 2. Oh, how I love your law. I meditate
on it all day long. Psalm 119, 97. We must be careful to read scripture,
to embed it in our hearts by meditation, and to apply it closely
to our consciences. Then it will be profitable to
our hearts. Robert Harris.