How a Daily Devotional Practice Can Replenish Your Soul
Go back to the well on a daily basis
"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."
PSALMS 36:9 KJV
We could all use more inspiration in our lives: experiences that grant us sudden epiphanies of insight, clarity, and motivation. Such moments are hard to predict. Inspiration can strike like a bolt out of the blue. And it can come from surprising sources: like an item you notice through a storefront window or a single word casually spoken by a friend.
But is inspiration something you can only hope and pray for? Or is it something you can bring about through your actions, even generate on cue?
For Christians, a reliable source of inspiration is the Holy Bible. Many “go back to the well” frequently through a regular practice of reading and reflecting on scripture. You can do this by working through the Bible from beginning to end. Or you can open it and pick a passage at random. But it can help to have a guide.
Lately I’ve been guiding my Bible study with the book Every Day in His Presence: 365 Devotions by Charles F. Stanley.
As you probably figured from the subtitle, the book has a devotional for every day of the calendar year. Each one consists of a biblical epigraph followed by a homily-like essay that applies a theme from the passage to life lessons.
My daily practice has been to read each devotional and then research the quoted Bible passage. I use the excellent web site King James Bible Online to look up the KJV translation of the passage (which I generally find speaks to my soul more than modern renditions), explore translation notes, and read the verse’s context. I’ll also use ChatGPT and Google to explore questions that come to mind. And finally I journal about how the teachings can guide me to improve my own conduct.
Very recently, I took my devotional practice up a notch by, instead of journaling, writing and publishing a daily essay. I take the Bible verse that Stanley quoted for the day and use it to inspire my own devotional that gives the verse my own spin. That is how this “Civilize Thyself” post came about, and yesterday’s, and the day before yesterday’s.
The past three days have gone great—with my work, my family, and my general well-being—and l largely credit that to my newly expanded devotional practice. For example, in my first post I wrote about my long-time struggle with getting enough sleep at night. And last night I slept eight hours. I can’t remember the last time I got that much sleep.
The Holy Bible is an inexhaustible font of inspiration, wisdom, and spiritual replenishment. I highly recommend returning to the well on a daily basis.
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
JOHN 4:14 KJV