Do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. (Ps. 71:18)

WHENEVER I CAME DOWNSTAIRS FOR BREAKFAST, there would be my dad, before heading off for a day of work at the factory, sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bible. I never once heard him say, “Jim, you ought to start your day reading the Bible,” or, “Jim, you should make Bible reading a priority.” No. He just sat there reading his Bible as I got ready for school. Every work and school day!

So what will you find me doing early every morning? Reading my Bible. The only difference between me and my dad is that I’m in my recliner, reading it online.

Dad silently communicated in his loudest “voice” the importance of starting each day with God and His Word. That’s how most discipleship takes place. It’s caught rather than taught. I can’t recall one thing I learned in our official family devotions, which we had before bed. Mostly I was thinking about anything other than the Bible lesson. But I’ve never forgotten the importance taking time to read the Bible.

Whether we are twenty or eighty, we are all aging at sixty minutes per hour. Don’t wait until you’re older. Now is the time to declare God’s power and mighty acts to the next generation. Sometimes, we’ll do that with words, but mostly we’ll communicate it silently—yet very loudly—through our attitudes and our actions.

Today, tell someone what God has done for you.

James N. Watkins loves God, his family, writing, speaking, and deep-dish pizza—in that order.

© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.