April 19 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 11:27-36:

²⁷And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
²⁸But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
²⁹And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
³⁰For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
³¹The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
³²The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
³³No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
³⁴The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
³⁵Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
³⁶If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Devotional

It is God who speaks to us in his Word. If He had not spoken, we could never know the way of salvation; but now the way of salvation is clearly revealed to us in the Bible. There are still many people in the world that have no Bible. Many have Bibles, but they do not read and study them. There are also those that may read the Bible, and hear its truths proclaimed, but it leaves them cold and indifferent. "Hearing, they hear not." Their ears are dull of hearing. Christ says, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." He also says, "Take heed what ye hear." People are very easily led astray by a false gospel. Therefore it is necessary that we know what the Bible teaches, lest we believe things that are not true, to our own destruction. Yet again Christ says, "Take heed therefore how ye hear." When the truth is preached to us, we must give heed to it and not be forgetful hearers. It behooves us to ponder the truth in our hearts.

"Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it." Keep it means to guard it, to keep watch lest we lose it. Keep it means believing it, and believing it means doing it. True faith manifests itself in obedience to God, and the doers of the will of God enter into the kingdom of heaven, and they are the beloved of Christ — brethren, sisters, and mothers — and, of course, all these are blessed. "Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed." So shall all who have true faith be blessed.

Prayer

Our Father, we cannot sufficiently thank Thee that Thou hast revealed Thyself unto us in thy Word, and that Thou hast preserved thy Word unto us: that we have the opportunity to read it from day to day, and to have it proclaimed unto us by Thy servants. Grant unto us ears to hear, eyes to see, and under­standing hearts. May Thy Spirit lead us into all truth, and may we be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, bearing testimony that He died for us and rose again. In his name we pray. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Matt. 13:13, 15; Mark 4:9, 24; Luke 8:18; James 1:25; Luke 2:19; Matt. 7:21; 12:50.

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