"You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words. I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise" ( Ps. 119:57-58). 

What do we do when God makes His Word available to us? We eat it! “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight (Jer. 15:16). Are His words your joy and your heart’s delight, or are they distasteful? Do you read your daily Scripture portion impatiently, going through the motions with your mind on other things, or do you delight in your time “in the garden of my soul?”

Life outside Eden can present you with so many thorny problems! So life in the garden is doubly important. It is here you are to walk with Him and talk with Him. It is here you share your deepest fears and realize your most daring dreams. And it is here that He shares with you His heart. 

These words of God are, as Jesus said, our most necessary food. We are to live life outside the garden by them. We are to live “on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). As the children of Israel collected the manna from heaven every day for forty years, so we are to collect our bread from heaven on a daily basis as well—and we will obtain nourishment for our souls.  

PRAYER

Lord, help me to guard my time in the “garden.” I want to listen to Your voice daily and to share my heart with You. So often, I think I can live the Christian life on my own, apart from Your Word. Forgive me. Help me to collect my daily bread from You and delight in it because it leads me to Your heart. Amen.