Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

I know of no other single practice in the Christian life that's more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. That's right. No other single discipline is more useful and rewarding than this.

SOMEBODY COPIED THIS piece from a well-worn carbon in the billfold of a thirty-year veteran missionary. She and her husband were on their way to another tour of duty in Sudan.

STRANGE, ISN'T IT, how we tend toward extremes? What begins as self-improvement becomes self-enslavement. What starts as merely a mellow change of pace leads to a marathon of fanaticism.

I USED TO FEEL A LITTLE SORRY FOR Thanksgiving in Southern California when my family and I lived there. Since leaves don’t turn and pumpkins don’t get frosty, it’s tough to get Thanksgiving fever.

IT'S ALMOST THANKSGIVING . . . MY FAVORITE. When it comes to holidays, this one tops 'em all, in my opinion.

BY NOW, YOU'VE NOTICED I've got a love affair going with Thanksgiving. It has been going on as far back as I can remember. Hands down, it's my favorite holiday of all. Here's why . . .

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? Can you? Be honest, now. When privileged information passes through one of the gates of your senses, does it remain within the walls of your mind?

Philip Bailey, the nineteenth-century poet, once made this stabbing statement: “The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat One’s self. / All sin is easy after that.”

Apprehension, no matter where you are, can be a strange emotion. Apprehension is a notch or two above worry, but it feels like its twin.

EAGLE THINKERS ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS, take strategic risks, search hard for the whole truth, and soar high above mediocrity. Parrot people enjoy the predictable, routine, rehearsed words of others.

IDOLS TAKE MANY FORMS. A church building can become an idol to us, when all the while it is simply a place to meet and worship our Lord—nothing more.

DURING MY PASTORING DAYS in New England, I heard of a teacher who quizzed a group of high school students on the Bible.

BOTH ADVERSITY AND PROMINENCE confront our equilibrium, but prominence is perhaps the more challenging test. The classic example is David.

THE GREAT PLAGUE STRETCHED across London like a thick, drab blanket. It came as a thief in the night. The mortality rate was astounding.

INSTANT REPLAYS HAVE BECOME OLD HAT. We now expect them in all televised scenarios.

ONE OF THE TOUGHEST assignments in life is to communicate clearly what happened during a time when emotions were high. People who “fall in love” can hardly describe the details of the moment.

WE OFTEN HEAR PEOPLE SAY, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Although sweating the small stuff can occasionally be a drag, there’s another side to that coin.

DURING THE REIGN OF OLIVER CROMWELL, the British government began to run low on silver for coins.

SAMSON WAS A HE-MAN WITH A SHE-WEAKNESS. Although he was born of godly parents, set apart from his birth to be a Nazirite, and elevated to the enviable position of judge in Israel, he never won the battle with lust.

JOB UNDERSTOOD WOUNDS. The words he used to describe them were more than patronizing platitudes and theoretical proverbs. He’d been there and back again.