He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God . . . Psalm 40:3a

Sometimes, when I'm recording a message in The Lutheran Hour studios, a thought occurs to me: I wonder if anybody is going to listen?

That's just the first of a number of questions that run through my mind.

Although I know results are the work of the Holy Spirit, I can't help wondering just how many people I will put to sleep. I wonder if anyone out there in radio land is interested in the message or are they all incredibly bored by what I'm saying.

If you are among the millions of incredibly bored people in the world, you should know a British medical journal has recently given directions on how you can fall asleep without letting anyone else know.

These were the instructions the journal provided:

1. "Rest your head on a tripod formed by your body and your arms which you place firmly on the table."

2. "Your head should be placed on your hands and your neck in a slightly flexed position. This position should help prevent snoring."

3. "The fingers should be stretched over the face and eyes, pressing the skin of the forehead upwards to wrinkle it, giving an appearance of 'deep concentration.'"

Hmmm. I wonder if that's why churches have pews rather than benches. Without a table or a railing, people can't make a tripod.

My friends, each day we encounter many messages that leave us bored. Commercials, sports, news, road conditions, even the direction of the stock market can lose its excitement after a while.

But, the good news message of salvation, which comes from God should be different.

Every day we sin and every day we need the forgiveness Jesus won for us on the cross and at His empty tomb. The joy of having our sins forgiven should be enough to strike a mortal blow against boredom.

Christ is risen, and we are saved. By God's grace we can move forward into our days fully prepared to live our lives saying, "Thank You, Lord." Because we have God's Good News, we can reflect the light of Jesus into the sin-darkened hearts of others.


From a devotion originally written for "By the Way"



THE PRAYER: Dear heavenly Father, for sending Your Son to save me, I owe You my thanks. Because Jesus has built a bridge between God and man, we are Your children. Help me realize that if all this seems boring, there is something wrong with my perception and not what Jesus has done. In His Name. Amen.

Click here to take a quick survey on the Daily Devotions!

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 147-148    1 Corinthians 4

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"