I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Psalm 119:16
I greeted our youth group as my husband and I handed out Bibles. “God will use these priceless gifts to change your life,” I said. That night, a few students committed to reading the gospel of John together. We continued inviting the group to read Scripture at home while we taught them during our weekly meetings. More than a decade later, I saw one of our students. “I still use the Bible you gave me,” she said. I saw the evidence in her faith-filled life.
God empowers His people to go beyond reading, reciting, and remembering where to find Bible verses. He enables us to “stay on the path of purity” by living “according to” the Scriptures (Psalm 119:9). God wants us to seek and obey Him as He uses His unchanging truth to free us from sin and change us (vv. 10-11). We can ask God daily to help us know Him and understand what He says in the Bible (vv. 12-13).
When we recognize the priceless value of living God’s way, we can “rejoice” in His instruction “as one rejoices in great riches” (vv. 14-15). Like the psalmist, we can sing, “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (v. 16). As we invite the Holy Spirit to empower us, we can savor each moment spent prayerfully reading the Bible—God’s life-changing gift to us.
By Xochitl Dixon
