Daily Devotional
Do You Value the Ministry of God’s Word?

August 25, 2024

Ponder This

I heard a silly story about a man who wanted to buy a parakeet. The store had two parakeets and the shop owner said, “I’ve got one parakeet for a hundred dollars that can sing and talk really well, and a twenty-five-dollar parakeet doesn’t sing but will talk a little.” The man decided on the twenty-five-dollar parakeet to save money. After a week he went back to the pet store and said, “He hasn’t said a word.” The owner replied, “He has to peck a little bell before he talks.” So, he bought the bell but there was still no word from the bird. The owner said, “He needs a little ladder to climb before he speaks.” So, he bought a little ladder. Finally, that bird pecked the bell, then he ran up and down the ladder and looked over at the man and said, “Don’t they sell any birdseed in that store that you go to?”

There are so many people who treat the Christian life that way. So many people are pecking bells and running up and down ladders, but activity is no substitute for the food of the Word of God. We need to value the ministry of the Word of God. The Church will be strong to the degree that its people maximize and emphasize the ministry of the Word of God, not only from the pulpit, but also in our classrooms, in our homes, and in our lives.

• What does it look like to value the Word of God daily?
• How do you personally seek to nourish yourself in Word of God?

Practice This

Pray and ask God to reveal the quick fixes you are looking to outside of Him.