It struck me as odd that a non-Christian friend of mine voiced objections when my husband and I prayed before our meal when we went out to dinner with her. Her argument was, "You make me feel like you are telling me I'm going to go to hell." Neither my husband nor I made comments or apologies for saying grace.

Later, I thought about this, and wondered, if she doesn't believe in God, heaven or hell, then what legitimate reason could she have to voice her displeasure with our prayers?

The answer, of course, is that somewhere deep down inside, she does believe in God, heaven and hell, and she is being convicted by the Holy Spirit for not following the way.

Prayer: Father in heaven, we praise You for the wonderful things You do with the small gifts of gratitude we give to You. It is our desire to remain faithful so You can complete the works You want to perform in our lives as well as in the lives of others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

The other day, I was eating breakfast at a local restaurant, when I decided to add salt to my eggs and hash browns. I love salt; it enhances the taste of the foods I love to eat. But on this morning, I added too much salt to the meal. When I took a bite, I found there was no flavour — only a burning sensation touching my taste buds.

I took note, and questioned myself about how we, as salt, must taste to others when we overwhelm them with a spiced-up message of the gospel.

It's easy to understand why sometimes the reaction of other people to our words can be so rash. When we overwhelm them, we have ruined the message for them — at least for that particular moment — just as my breakfast was ruined by the harshness of all the salt.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help us to be alert to your Holy Spirit when we witness for You. Help us to be attractive light flavouring. Keep us from becoming a blast of harsh spices void of flavour, useless to others and to You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

After I read the Daily Devotional one day recently, I continued to the feedback page written by readers to the writer of the previous day's devotional. As I read the comments, I felt foolish when I found a reference to music that played when one read the devotional.

I stopped for a moment and realized that I didn't hear any music. I didn't expect to hear anything. I had the volume turned off. I wondered, what else do I miss because I have my volume off? It reminded me of times when I read the Bible and hurriedly put the Bible down before I give God time to speak, let alone be heard.

Often many of us have our volumes turned off when reading the word of God, simply because we are in a hurry. It's possible, too, I suppose, that we might be thinking that if we do not hear His voice, we won't have to obey.

Today, I will not put my Bible down and go on with other things. Today, I will turn the volume up and listen! I don't really want to miss anything He has to say!

Prayer: Father, please forgive our indifference toward Your voice. Help us to keep the volume up, so we can receive all You want us to hear and do Your will. In Your Son's beautiful name. Amen.