NIV 365-Day Devotional Plan (2017)Sample

The Garden No One Visits

Observation
In the middle of the bustling Honolulu Airport, where travelers scurry around the clock to their destinations, a garden awaits. The green repose, which seems almost out of place in the chaos, is a quiet place. It invites frazzled passengers to site awhile under beautiful trees offering protective shade.

The garden is beautiful. Birds perch by the dozens in the branches of the trees, but humans seem to avoid the garden. The last time I was there, one lady was using it — to walk her dog. One man sat and finished his lunch on the bench. But I passed it by — for some undecipherable reason, I hurried past that quiet place. I was hurrying to get to my departure gate, even though I would sit there for another 45 minutes before boarding.

The business of the world is a vortex that claims much of our richest potential, only to replace it with empty activity. Out of all that’s going on in the book of Luke, this one out-of-the-way verse is like a garden, inviting me to stop and sit awhile. Jesus would slip away, not just on occasion, but often. He’d take time to recalibrate his heart and reorient his course, regain balance and return to communion with his Father.

Application
Often I think I will be less fruitful if my activity is replaced by quiet times with God. How I want to see fruitfulness — but the only way is to stop by the garden and sit with the Savior for a while, to return to what is most eternal.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, I have been moving at Mach IV for quite a while, and I need to take more time to be like Jesus. Teach me that fruitfulness is only possible when I take time to slip away with you to pray.

Taken from NIV LifeConnect Study Bible