Wonderful Reward

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading, titled Wonderful Reward, was written by Ann Cetus.

Donalyn, a teacher, had always been a reader. But one day, it literally paid off. She was planning a trip and reviewing her lengthy travel insurance policy, when on page seven she discovered a Wonderful Reward. As part of their It Pays to Read contest, the company was giving $10,000 to the first person to read that far into the contract. They also donated thousands of dollars to schools in Donalyn's area for children's literacy. She says, I've always been that nerd who reads contracts.

I was the most surprised of anyone. The psalmist wanted his eyes open to see wonderful things about God. He must have had an understanding that God wants to be known, and so he longed for a deeper closeness to him. His desire was to see more of who God is, what he'd already given, and how to follow him more closely.

He wrote in Psalm 119, Oh how I love your law, I meditate on it all day long. We, too, have the privilege of taking time to ponder God, his character, and his provisions to learn about and grow closer to him. God longs to instruct us, guide us, and open our hearts to who he is. When we search for him, he rewards us with greater wonder at who he is and the enjoyment of his presence. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Psalm 119 verses 17 through 24. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you for the scriptures that you have given us, and we thank you for revealing yourself to us through your word. We ask that you would help us slow down and spend time with you so that we can truly get to know you. We ask this in your name, Jesus. Amen.