Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

There is nothing quite like the charm and personal touch conveyed by a handwritten note. Since our penmanship, like our fingerprint, is altogether unique, each curve of the letter or stroke of the pen bears its own originality. There is personality and warmth and, yes, special effort too.

We are a success-saturated society. The telltale signs are everywhere. Each year dozens of books and magazines, scores of audiotapes and videotapes, and hundreds of seminars offer ideas, motivation, techniques, and promises of prosperity.

Christians have at least four areas of involvement to maintain with Christ through life: 1) To maintain a close connection with our Lord, we think of Him as we make our plans, we pray, we explore the rich treasures of His Word. 2) Our involvement with members of our family: Parents, children, relatives, mates.

Paul certainly proved himself a prophet when he wrote: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1). And when he predicted: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. . . ."

Quick now, what woman in recent years not only won the prestigious "Woman of the World" award but was named the "Most Admired Woman" in the world for three consecutive years? Former First Lady Barbara Bush or perhaps Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor?

I have been a Magic Johnson basketball fan ever since he made All-American at Michigan State. Magic was a champion without arrogance, an MVP without a peer. And then, in one day, that love affair turned sour for some of us. We sat stunned. Magic had HIV!

What gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave? What is the ultimate hope of the handicapped, the abused, the burn victim? What is the final answer to pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents?

John Steinbeck's delightful little volume Travels with Charley fascinates me each time I read it. It tells how the author and his dog took to the highways, traveling hundreds of miles, encountering all sorts of interesting people and intriguing situations. I find myself charmed by that sort of thing.

Paul deals with the value of being gracious in your Christian walk in 1 Thessalonians 2:7–11: "But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives . . ."

Years ago my older son, then a teenager, and I dropped by the local Hallmark shop to find Cynthia a card for Mother's Day. Somewhat bored with the process, Curt wandered back to the posters and soon called me to come look at one he liked. It was a picture of a boat on a very still lake at dawn.

When the Ritz-Carlton Hotels won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the owner of that outstanding organization, Mr. William Johnson, stated that now they would need to work even harder to earn the respect that came with the award. "Quality," he said, "is a race with no finish line."

"My soul waits in silence for God only" (Psalm 62:1). Some of the best times in prayer are wordless times. I stop speaking, close my eyes, and meditate upon what I have been reading or upon what I have been saying, and I listen inside of myself. I listen deeply. I listen for reproofs.

Lists are everywhere. The sports page is full of them. Elsewhere we find lists of Academy Award winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, and beauty contest winners. The publishing world has its best-seller list, the music world its gold and platinum album lists, the financial world its Fortune 500 list.

"What is your favorite feeling?" When my sister, Luci, asked me that question recently, my brain began to click through a dozen or more possibilities. Being a person to whom feelings are extremely important, I had a tough time selecting one. Finally, I landed on "accomplishment."

In 1991 James Patterson and Peter Kim released The Day America Told the Truth, a study based on an extensive opinion survey which guaranteed the anonymity of its participants. And the truth was shocking! Let me give you a brief sampling of their findings.

During the Thanksgiving holiday a few years ago, I experienced a moving moment as I watched our younger daughter, Colleen, with her baby, Ashley Alissa, who at that time was a newborn. Colleen had nursed her back to sleep and was holding Ashley ever so tenderly, as only a mother can do.

Humans are strange creatures. We run faster when we lose our way. Instead of pausing to regroup, we ricochet from place to place. Three words describe our times: hurry, worry, and bury. In this race called life, when the pressing demands of time are upon us, we need to stop and get oriented.

A few winters ago in Stockholm, Sweden, an eighty-four-year-old woman sat for two months on her balcony before a neighbor discovered she was dead. The woman was found sitting in a chair, dressed in a coat and hat, her forehead leaning against the railing.

Have you noticed how many day-planners are available these days? And then there are the time-management self-help books: how to increase your efficiency, how to make every moment count, how to invest your time wisely and productively.

To be mature is to be fully developed, complete, and "grown up." Becoming mature is a process of consistently moving toward emotional and spiritual adulthood. In that process we leave childish and adolescent habits and adopt a lifestyle where we are fully responsible for our own decisions, motives, actions, and consequences.