Mon., 11/9/15 Devotion (2 Ki. 22:8)

Today's encouragement comes from 2 Kings 22:8, where these words are found:

"Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, 'I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.' And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it."

Whenever the Holy Scriptures are "discovered," especially for the very first time, by Spirit-ripened souls—the results are revolutionary. When young King Josiah had this newly-found scroll read to him, he responded with faith, humil-ity, contrition, and repentance. He then embarked on his wonderful and far-reaching reforms (in Judah).

Does the Holy Book, in conjunction with the Spirit and the gospel life of the church, continue to transform our lives? If our Bible reading brings us to Jesus, and causes us to love Him more—then there is no doubt but that it does.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The heart will tell us that sin is but small, and, be-ing small, it is venial. The heart will apologize for sin, masking bad transac-tions over with golden pretenses.” —Thomas Watson, in his sermon, "The Spiritual Watch"]