Ever buy furniture you have to assemble? The package arrives and I carefully take every piece out of the box and lay it down in organized piles. Then I quickly open up the instructions. I read carefully through those instructions before beginning to assemble the item. Carefully. Very carefully to ensure not one item is misplaced. I look over the instruction with great detail.

Ever watch a movie so many times you can recite each line? It may be your favorite movie or the favorite movie of a loved one. If not movies, maybe you can recite quotes from well known writers and poets. In order to do either you had to spend time listening and reading the material over an extended period of time. Over time you can hear the line or the theme music anywhere out of context and still you are able to recognize it. Well the Lord desires the same type of bond with His word. 

How would you respond to a child who pushes the limits, walks contrary to everything you advise, and is not willing to obey? You would look favorably upon them and make them fruitful, right? Of course not! 

What if you were this child? How then would you respond? Speaking from my own experience when I am this disobedient child I have my long list of justifications and reasons why even though I was walking contrary to my father not willing to obey I deserve favor (grace), peace, and blessings. God knew this would be so and therefore He laid it out quite clearly in His word how He responds to His children. 

Reading. Oh reading. It is interesting to me how there is a universal culture since I was a child of people struggling with reading. The power of reading has always been known for it has been used to divide the rich from the poor, the slave from the master, the uneducated from the educated. There is power in reading. 

Ever do something for the first time and struggle with knowing whether you have done it correctly? This happens to me in many different circumstances such as at the gym - did I really use this machine correctly? In the kitchen - did I follow the recipe exactly how the writer intended? At the golf course - am I using the correct club? Regardless the circumstance or the new experience, time will show the results.