Matthew 4:1–4 ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

A man was walking in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some pebbles, put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both sorry and glad.” The man obeyed, stooped down, picked up a handful of pebbles, and put them in his pocket. The next morning, he reached into his pocket and found diamonds and rubies and emeralds. And he was both glad and sorry. Glad he had taken some, sorry he had not taken more.

I think that is how it is with God’s Word. It makes us glad when we see how the Holy Spirit works through the Word to strengthen us in our faith toward God and in our love toward one another. Yet there is also an element of sadness when we recognize that our response to that Word is so hesitant and incomplete. There is so much valuable information there just waiting for us to discover!

How often do we neglect hearing and studying and reflecting on the Word of God because we are “too busy,” “don’t have the time,” or just simply “didn’t even think about it?”

The most important thing we discover in the Word is the good news of Jesus as our Savior. That is something we all need to be reminded of every day. But there is so much more there: wisdom and life lessons and just plain good advice.

Do you honestly think you will regret spending more time in God’s Word?