Taste And See

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Tommy
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There are times when I do not feel like cultivating my "spiritual discipline of the Christian life" - it is a book written by Donald Whitney. I realize that there is so much going on in life and that the week is going by a lot faster than I anticipated, to the point that the Bible, sitting right in front of me on my desk, has become neglected. 

The Bible is the greatest gift that God has given to me. Without the Bible, I am hopeless and lost spiritually. Without the Bible, I will not be able to know who God is. Without the Bible, I will not be able to know the origin of the world. Without the Bible, I will not be able to know the meaning of life. Without the Bible, I will not be able to know exactly where I'm going after this life. Without the Bible, I might not be able to know the person and work of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. 

I want to read the Bible, not that I have to. I desire to know God through His revealed Word. I desire to hear from God and listen to Him as I read the Bible. Ultimately, God has spoken through His Word (Luke 16:27-31).

Psalm 19:7-11 is the best section that speaks about the characteristics and effects God's Word. Have you experienced the effects of God's Word in your life? Do you struggle to believe this passage of the Psalms to be true in your life? If not, and if it is your desire that this section of Psalms would come true in your life, then I encourage you to pray. 
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Billy
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If I use my own life as an example for this entry, I would have to see myself from more of a distance than I am used to, since what is personal to me is only meaningful for myself.  

I would have to divide my life into two parts: before my conversion and afterwards.  When I look back at the time before I came to know Christ by believing in His Word, (which was preached by His disciples, and which I received Acts 15:7,) I look back with a sense of lost time, and also with a desire to obey more fully and to repent, since whenever I stumble and sin against God, I tell myself that what sins I would commit I had already done enough when I was a nonbeliever (Ephesians 2:1-7).

I wish that I had been raised a believer.  More than that, I wish that I had received Christ younger (I was converted in Grade 10) so that I could have kept my life pure, dedicating it to Jesus, my God and Lord.  My sense of this longing comes from Psalm 119:9-12:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! 

Although this sense of longing remains in me, I strive to look forward and I strive not to grieve over a thing that is past.  The Word dwells in me when I renew my mind in it daily, and I keep the resolve to have a vengeance on disobedience:

And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:6).
- King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition

I admit that I am not always persevering as I ought to, but now that the day of salvation is here, let us

...put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation - if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:1-3).