“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I know this verse well and appreciate it, but the breadth of it doesn’t hit me until I am working my way through an Old Testament book like Numbers or Leviticus, books that seem to focus solely on the Israelites. In this case it was Exodus. I was reading Exodus 29 which is all about consecrating Aaron and his sons to be able to offer sacrifices in the tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites. 

I was just tootling along, not paying much attention because—well—let’s face it—this has nothing to do with me and life in 2026—when I suddenly reached verses 38-39 and read God’s command to Moses regarding the sacrifices to be made on the altar: “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight.”

It wasn’t the plight of the lambs that caught my attention. It was the final statement: "Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight."  

I looked up the “why” behind this command, and saw that this routine “served as an act of daily national consecration and a perpetual reminder of Israel’s ongoing dependence on God,” and that this would be where God would meet them to speak with them.

Now I know we are not under Jewish law, but Jewish law at its core was designed to set the Israelites apart from other cultures by establishing a moral society and to reveal God’s holy character. So much can be learned by paying attention to what he told them to do. And this is one.

I have learned over the years that starting my day with God first thing in the morning provides a solid foundation and much needed sense of peace for my day. But I had never thought to end my day with Him in a similar manner. Yes, a round of nightly prayers filled with gratitude and petitions, sometimes sprinkled with a few contritions, but not a time of reading and reflection.

Yet, it makes sense. The day is done but the night is nigh and the mind does not rest when asleep. Rather it takes on all the concerns and thoughts of the day and keeps working on them. I have often had disturbing dreams that melded last thoughts with people or places that i have not seen in years, as my subconscious tries to work out solutions or make sense of my convoluted thoughts.

Though not a command, I think I will give it a go. I will end my day the way I began it, remembering my dependence on God and learning more about His holy character. I would love for you to join me.

I was having dinner with four friends the other evening when one of them shared the good news of her lowered blood sugar levels and improved health. We all gave our congratulations and then asked her how she did it. 

“Change in diet,” she answered, and then went on to explain what she had cut out in order to achieve the end result. 

We asked if it was hard. At first, she had replied, but soon she didn’t miss it.

“We crave what we eat,” another friend announced, and I was a bit taken aback by this. I had always thought we ate what we craved. But the more I thought about it, the more truth I saw in that statement. We will often try out foods we think we desire or will like. The craving doesn’t come until after we know what it tastes like. Eating sugar, for instance, just makes a person crave more sugar. Yet it never really satisfies. 

I thought about all the applications of this truth: watching TV, playing video or computer games, seeking acceptance, recognition, fame and fortune, power and prestige. Participating in the activity often spurs on our desire to want more, but, just like sugar, it never fully satisfies.

The things of this word belong to Satan, the great deceiver, and so they will always, at first glance, look brighter and more enticing and desirable, but ultimately, they don’t deliver.

But the things of God do, as Matthew 6:33 so aptly tells us. As we seek after God and his righteousness — through prayer, Bible reading, devotions, obedience — we will crave more of Him, and this time we will be satiated.

Last weekend I went with my mother to visit her new Barnes and Noble bookstore. It took the place of the former Joann’s building and has a large cafe, toys and puzzles, paper products and, of course, books. LOTS OF BOOKS.

As I walked through the various sections, I was amazed at not only how many books there are but also the number of subjects: fiction—fantasy, sci-fi, romance, historical, thrillers, mysteries, Christian just to start, and then non-fiction, which went from biographies to the most obscure topics—paper, the history of the color palette and another one on hair removal.

But what struck me most was what a friend of mine reminded me of. We humans communicate through words. And from the looks of one bookstore, we have a lot to say and, surprisingly, people want to read and hear about it.

Which brings me to the second part of my friend’s comment. Jesus was God’s way of communicating with us. And suddenly the full meaning of John 1:1, 3 and 14 hit me. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

I had always limited Jesus’s time on earth to our means of salvation. But in John 14:9 Jesus specifically says, “He that has seen Me, has seen the Father.”

Though perhaps nothing new for many of you, my friend’s comment reminded me that the Living Word is not just the Bible we hold in our hand. The Living Word was Jesus himself. 

I needed to replace a few plants out front and wanted to plant a few more. The replacements weren’t causing me any anxiety. After all, I had already dug the hole and a plant was already there, albeit a dead one.

No, the part that I was not looking forward to were the new holes I had to dig, because I knew from past experience what was waiting for me. Rocks and Roots. 
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Likely you have gone through the same experience. Slice the shovel into the topsoil only to hit either the hardness of rock or the tenacity of roots. And it really doesn’t matter how big either is. They take time to dislodge or cut through before you can continue.

However, I was reminded that what I found as obstacles of frustration while gardening were the very two metaphors God uses to describe himself. 

First, he is Yahweh Tsuri, The Lord My Rock, and this rock is — fortunately — immovable and impenetrable. In the Old Testament this rock is described as “my fortress and my deliverer. . . my refuge and my savior” (2 Samuel 22:2-3) and in the New Testament “a chosen and precious cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:6). 

And then Jesus is the vine (John 15), permanently rooted to provide nourishment and security, and this vine can never be uprooted.

I thought of rocks and roots and God as I was working my way around the garden planting my new flowers, and while the spiritual ones provided peace for my soul, the earthly ones created a nagging pain in my back. I still don’t like them.

I have found myself very busy lately.

So much so that as I am often working on one task, I will be thinking about the next:  Breakfast to chores. Stretching exercises to writing responsibilities.

I want to read for pleasure but I need to read the books for two book clubs. I want to hit some golf balls and go for a walk but only have time for one. I find myself working through the Bible study questions to complete them but not resting in the message conveyed.

I am so intent on working my way from one task to the next that I don’t immerse myself in the joy that each one might provide.

Bottom line, I have fallen into the fatal trap of not embracing the present. 

Time is a divine construct. Though God is outside of time, He created time for us, and we should remember that everything He created is good. Time is not meant to be something to constrict us or cause us worry. Rather it is a way for us to assess what we are doing.

Busyness, however, is a human construct. A matter of just filling our day with activities. But having many tasks to do does not always equate to busyness. I am learning that it isn’t the number of activities we have in the day that matters but the perspective from which we view each one.

The Bible has much to say about time and how we should spend it. Yes, we need to make a living. Yes, God has given us talents and dreams and aspirations to pursue. Yes, he has put people in our lives for us to connect with, but if we look at each of these through a Biblical lens, then the ticking of boxes will be replaced with the cherishing of moments. 

My reading has revealed four steps that will insure that the things that fill our day will be meaningful and not mundane.

1. Seek God First (Matthew 6:33): Worship, prayer, devotions, Bible reading, and committing the day’s plans into his care. Any time spent with God is never wasted and provides a firm foundation for the day.
2. Loving and Serving Others (Matthew 22:37-39): Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is something both grounding and freeing when we take our eyes off of only ourselves and bring others into the picture. 
3. Fulfilling God’s Purposes (rather than ours) Colossians 3:23 reminds us that whatever we do, we should do for the Lord, and Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God has created us for good works he prepared beforehand. Both remind us that God is in control of the results.
4. Resting In Christ (Genesis and Exodus 20:8) God rested on the seventh day not because he was tired but to show us how important it is to rest and then He commanded us to rest. There is no shame in resting.

In a world that celebrates success and all the work and sacrifice it takes to reach that success, God’s principles are counterintuitive, and yet, when we submit to His wisdom, we do indeed find that what needs to be accomplished gets done, the desires of our heart match His, and we find peace and rest.