While David had set the Lord always before him (Ps 16:8), for most of us, the world is always before us. The world, with its demands, glamour, philosophies, pleasures and noises, are always influencing us. They demand our attention, draw our heart, occupy our time. And in the midst of all these preoccupations, it is hard to remember God’s Word and abide by it. How is the situation like for you? Do you usually meet God with His Word every morning, or are you first greeted and overwhelmed by the world? As we go about our day-to-day living, what shapes our priorities and perspectives? What critical factors drive our decision-making process of how we spend our time, money and gifts? Is it the Word or the world?

Reflect: What happens when we first meet the world before God’s Word?

That will be like waking up to human words, texts from the boss, notifications about the latest video clips or games, various news headlines, and so on. This will inevitably turn our focus to the long list of tasks to complete, or fill our minds with the longing for new worldly thrills, or tempt our hearts to gratify our desires, or lead us to respond intuitively to life demands by our own strength and wisdom. Which of these can benefit us and allow us to connect to the God who is our strength and source of all blessings?

Although people aspire to be independent and wise thinkers, the truth is, we are all under the influence of the macro environment we are in, and that environment shapes us into who we are today. And what is the world trying to mold us into? It is trying to turn our attention to self-gratification, self-actualisation, self-reliance, material comfort and security, making us care only about this life, but not think twice about what God’s Word says.

We truly need God’s Word before we face the world.

As the Psalmist prayed:

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life. (Ps 143:8)

Here, the Psalmist mentioned one key function of God’s Word, which is to “show the way one should go”. Indeed, we humans are short-sighted and limited, and even if we want, we cannot know what will happen in future. Thus, we need the never-erring guidance of God. Furthermore, the Word also tells us of God’s unfailing love. And our faith and motivation to follow God’s way as revealed by His Word, come from the assurance we get from His promises (Word) that He loves us too.

Importantly, the Word of God can point us to the right direction and purpose of doing what we are doing, it can fuel our hearts with strength to face challenges of the day, it can conform our thinking to the mind of Christ, and taking in the Word at the start of the day can also heighten our consciousness of God’s presence throughout the day, such that we will seek Him more as the day unfolds. Thus, before the world distracts and influences us, it is critical that we set our hearts and minds first on God’s truth. This will set the right tone for the rest of the day.

Therefore, learn to put the Word before the world.

We may feel helpless under the real influence of the world, but we don’t have to be passive. We can proactively seek spiritual power from the Holy Spirit to resist worldly influences. We can turn to God’s Word rather than conform to the world. Being in the world does not mean we must be shaped by the world. But how? How can we do that? We need to let God’s Word guard our hearts and minds.

To guard ourselves from worldly and carnal influences, we cannot run away from one thing called discipline. And this may mean waking up a little earlier to make time for Bible-reading and prayers. If we know how to put God first in our day, it will also be easier for us to learn putting Him first in our lives. Discipline may also mean putting our phone further away from the bedside, or finding time in the middle of the day to pray to God, recalibrate and align ourselves with Him. It also means anticipating challenges and disruption to receiving God’s Word, and having contingency plans against them. Now, for those people who are hoping to hear some quick fix or shortcut, they will be disappointed to hear about having the right discipline in our lives. Yet, hard as it is, it is important that we start each day by letting God’s Word come into our hearts and minds before the world enters with all its noises.

Dear friends, I’m not sure if you are struggling to take in God’s Word first before you go into the world each morning. But God is reminding us today that only when we read His Word right, and when we are guided and guarded rightly by God’s Word, then we will know how to live right when we are in the world. In fact, we need God’s Word not just before we meet the world, but also while we are in the world, so that God’s promises and commandments will direct our hearts, our steps and our decisions. I will like to end today’s devotion with this verse from the book of Joshua: Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Jos 1:8) May this encourage us to practice the daily discipline of reading and obeying God’s word!