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Psalm 119:130 – The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand. (NLT)
Dad was a snacker, and he did it consistently.
One of my earliest childhood memories is how my dad would pause during the day for snacks. As a small elementary-age child, I can remember his opening the back door of the apartment where we lived and hollering, "Marty, you want a snack?" I grew up learning to pause for a snack mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and normally, before I went to bed.
Dad's habits about snacking never changed. Most of the churches that he pastored had church-owned homes near them. Unless Dad was at the hospital or at a meeting, he would pause from his mid-morning and mid-afternoon studies, go to the house, and enjoy a snack. After 15 minutes of rest, he would return to his duties. Snacking didn't take away his appetite for full meals. When mealtime arrived, he was always ready for the home-cooked meal that Mom had prepared.
Snacking also applies to God's Word.
The psalmist devotes 176 verses to God's Word in Psalm 119, and today's verse says that it gives light when it's taught. Most of what I've been taught throughout life is that I need to invest large amounts of time in God's Word. I need a special time and place during the day when I pause, sit, read a long portion of God's Word, and meditate on it. Good advice — and for the better part of my life, I've followed it, even when my lifestyle didn't match what I was reading.
But I've also learned the importance of snacking on God's Word in between mealtimes. These are the moments when I pick up a book or magazine and read a devotional or when a verse comes to mind, and I pause for a few minutes to think about what it means. Sometimes, I eat my snack while I'm exercising or taking a shower.
Just as the Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing, so we need to snack on God's Word regularly as well. For this to happen, we must have God's Word ingrained into our minds. This happens only by memorizing it or reading it frequently.
Feast on God's Word daily, but also discover some ways to snack on it in between the meals.
Prayer: Father, remind us to make Your Word a daily part of our diet. Amen.
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About the author:
Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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Thank you.
Enjoy your writings.
Thanks, Martin. I do this and now have a name for it!
So true.
Blessings.
Amen, Martin. So very true, especially during these troubling times. Blessings.
Thanks, Martin. How fortunate we are to live in a geographical location where the food for snacking is at hand. Keep writing.
I agree Martin. It needs to be a part of us in all we do and say and think.
Blessings.
These daily devotionals help us to snack on the word of God with scripture, personal stories, a prayer and a favorite hymn. We snack together.
Thank you, Martin, snacking on God’s word is such a good way to pause and feast on God’s word many times during the day and, as you say in your prayer, making it a daily part of our diet.
If you snack in the shower does your Bible get wet? My mom always read hers while she was on the commode! Thanks for sharing.
Blessings.
I am consistent about snacking as well. Mid-morning and afternoon every day, a blood sugar issue with me, and may have been with your father as well.
I shall have to keep the “word” close by and snack on it as well.
Thanks, Martin, for another very special writing and reminder that the best “snack” is feeding on God’s word! You really have a special talent in expressing how important it is for us to take time in our day and reflect on God’s word. Blessings for these writings.
Marty:
Great message, as usual. The only issues I have with snacking is that I’m ending up a little tubbier than my wife and I would like!
(Ontario)
Good morning, Martin,
Good words and good advice, but to be honest I don’t snack food at all and God’s word only when I am studying for something or another or look up something of interest as it relates to events of the day.
Thank you and blessings.
Thank you for your testimony of reading Psalm 119. Several years ago we sang Psalm 119:105 and it put me under conviction to read God’s Word through every year. Now, on my 90th birthday I am continuing that as well as writing out verses. These are great disciplines and help get the Word from your hand to your heart better. I am trying to memorize more texts, but have many stored for recall, especially in praying. Thank you for your encouraging devotional.
Good morning, Martin,
This is absolutely priceless of an idea to “snack” on God’s word throughout the day.
It is a great memory of your dad which I am sure brings a smile to your face. Sometimes we just feel we don’t have the time to attempt serious time to invest in God’s Word, but we can all make time to snack.
I think this is a very encouraging reminder to make time for God in our lives even if it is just “snacking”. Blessings and “snacking”.
Great advice!
Dear Martin,
Thanks so very much for an amazing devotional this morning. My parents called it coffee time rather than a snack. But so similar. And I love your analogy to God’s Word. How much I’ve appreciated parents who gave me such a great example of the importance of reading the Bible. We are so blessed!
Thanks again and may many today reading your devotional, realize the importance of feeding on the Word daily.
May God continue to use your Devotionals for His purposes.