Daily Devotion: Thursday

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 46

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 26:15-28

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:33-44

We should notice, thirdly, in these verses our Lord's practice of occasional retirement from public notice, into some solitary place. We read, that after healing many that were sick and casting out many demons, "he departed and went into a desert place." His object in so doing, is shown by comparison with other places in the Gospels. He went aside from His work for a season to hold communion with His Father in Heaven, and to pray. As holy and sinless as his human nature was it was a nature kept sinless in the regular use of means of grace, and not in the neglect of them.

There is an example here which all who desire to grow in grace and walk closely with God, would do well to follow. We must make time for private meditation, and for being alone with God. We must not be content to merely pray daily and read the Scriptures, and to hear the Gospel regularly and to receive the Lord's Supper. All this is well. But something more is needed. We should set apart special seasons for solitary self-examination and meditation on the things of God.

We live in hurrying, bustling times. The excitement of daily business and constant engagements keeps many men in a perpetual whirl, and entails great peril on souls. The neglect of this habit of withdrawing occasionally from worldly business is the probable cause of many an inconsistency or backsliding which brings scandal on the cause of Christ. The more work we have to do the more we ought to imitate our Master. If He, in the midst of His abundant labors, found time to retire from the world occasionally then how much more may we? If the Master found the practice necessary then it must surely be a thousand times more necessary for His disciples!

Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, help me to take time each day to commune with the Father.

Action Plan: What prevents me from setting apart special times to examine ourselves and meditate on Scripture? How can I change my priority.

This devotional was taken from The Gospel of Luke by J.C. Ryle published in 1858

and adapted by Pastor Tim Lewis of New England Shores Baptist Church.