HEY…SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY. ACTS 17:11 (3)You have to ‘live’ with a Scripture until it takes root within you and begins to grow. Butterflies cover more ground, but bees gather more honey. Sometimes you have to stay with a particular Scripture until you extract the honey. God may work on one area of your life for several weeks, or months. It takes time to change ingrained character traits. New habits and ways of thinking are not formed in a day. We must be aware of this and let God reinforce a new truth in our lives. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that just because you’ve read a certain truth it’ll produce instant change. It must be applied, and that takes time! Rick Warren writes: ‘On one occasion my application was to work on the quality of sensitivity. It took several months for God to build that into my life. I needed to see how this quality related to all areas of my life. He kept putting me into situations where I was tempted to do the opposite – to be insensitive. He may do the same with you. God may teach you to love others by putting you in the midst of unlovely people. You may have to learn patience while experiencing irritations, and learn peace in the midst of chaos. You are then discovering how to have joy even in times of sorrow and testing. You must realize that when God wants to build a positive quality into your life, He must allow you to encounter situations where you choose to do the right thing instead of following your natural inclinations.’ The real test is, ‘How will applying this Scripture to my situation help me become more like Jesus?’