Bible Time?

Prayer – Lord, I love Your word. It is a treasure to me. Open my eyes to understanding it more day by day. Help me to memorize it…to hide it in my heart. 

Scroll at a Jewish synagogue.
Safed, Israel

You are about to enter the land the LORD your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, 'We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.' If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the LORD your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner. ... When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the LORD his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel. Deuteronomy 17:14-15, 18-20

Meditate. Read God’s word and listen to what He is saying.

 

When was the last time you actually opened your Bible and read it? I mean actually touching and turning those fine, thin pages of the real book? If you are like me…and millions of others…you probably read and search your Bible online. I probably actually "read" from a hardcopy Bible only a couple of times a week--but every day online! 

 

I think it is interesting that God wanted His people to have a king—not a president or dictator—but a king. He was pretty specific in this passage in Deuteronomy about what He expected of the king. The king was obviously literate since he could write out and read God’s words on a scroll. How many of us actually copy scripture like God wanted this king to do? When I try to memorize scripture, I copy it over and over—that helps me remember it. Memorizing scripture is so important—you never know when you won’t have access to the Bible online or even in book form. Hide it in your heart where no one can take it away from you.

 

In His heavenly Kingdom, God will have kings and priests. Will those kings be reading God’s word to others every day? We see in John’s description of God’s Heavenly throne room that there are thrones for the twenty-four elders and each of them is wearing a crown (see Revelation 4:4). Kings sit on thrones and wear crowns, so we can assume that these elders are serving as kings. Note that they cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus (Revelation 4:10)—thus declaring that they are unworthy to be considered kings—and that Jesus is the King of kings!

 

So for now, as believers and adopted children of the Almighty God who sits on a throne in Heaven, we can consider ourselves royalty. Children of the King. We should take God’s word to heart—copy and read His word every day.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Romans 13:11-12

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com

 

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