Harvest Daily Devotional 01/16/04

Harvest Daily Devotional 
by Pastor Greg Laurie

January 16

What’s on Your Mind?

^{“ ‘}So commit yourselves completely to these words of mine.  Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead.  Teach them to your children.  Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.’ ” (Deuteronomy 11:18–19)

Sometimes people ask me to sign their Bibles, which is not something I like to do, because I didn't write it.  But when someone insists, I usually write this inscription in his or her Bible: “Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you from sin.”

I have found that sin will always keep you away from the Bible, because the devil wants to keep you out of God’s Word.  He doesn't care if you read magazines.  He doesn't care if you watch television.  He doesn't care if you read the latest novel on the bestseller list.  He doesn't care if you watch movies.  But the minute you pick up the Bible and crack it open, you had better believe that he will try to distract you with everything he has.  He doesn't want you to read it.

On the other hand, if you follow what the Bible teaches, it will keep you from sin.  That is why we need to know the Bible.  That is why we need to study it.  While it is a great idea to carry a Bible in your briefcase, pocket, or purse, the best place to carry it is in your heart.  Know it well.  Fill the memory banks God has given you with Scripture, because the devil will attack you in the realm of your mind.  The best defense is a mind that is filled with God's Word.

Copyright © 2003 by Harvest Ministries.  All rights reserved.  Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.