Chocolate

I was eating chocolate that had a little saying on the inside of the wrapper. The first one I ate had a silly “promise.” So I unwrapped another. It said Spring has sprung. Duh. Obviously the writer didn’t count on spring coming in February in the desert this year. Tried another. It said something about strutting your stuff. I am not a strutter. One more…How many dark chocolates can I eat before the caffeine puts me in tachycardia? 

So I have to confess that sometimes I do a similar thing when I’m reading the Bible. I’ll open to a passage and ask the Lord to give me a Word for the day. I pop to Paul getting shipwrecked. Nope. Pop to Psalm 39. David brings me to tears. “My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Ok, going where I know I’m safe. John 1:14, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” Unfailing love and faithfulness. I’ll hang on to that today.

Good thing is, I just keep eating the Word, like chocolate, until I find what I think is the best for me that day. But God already knows the best for me, and it might be a hard Word from the Psalms or Job. These tough verses stick with me, like calories from chocolate, to give me what I might need on a day I feel shipwrecked or face mortality I’m not ready to face. Whether you like to read chapter by chapter, pop in somewhere, or investigate a theme throughout the whole Bible, it’s good to be in the Word. Who knows? God might even ask us to strut our stuff, for His glory of course. Remember James 1:22, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.” Sometimes doing what God says requires brave faith, and maybe a little holy strut or chocolate, too. ~Tracy