God Is Our Prize

We have a family friend, Mrs. Holt, who’s been part of our lives for many years, always offering kindness, friendship, encouragement, and the best Mexican food you’ve ever eaten in your life.

When I graduated from the University of Houston, she surprised me with one of those beautiful, soft leather gift books, trimmed in gold foil, containing quotes about life and success. So lovely. So thoughtful. And I was so glad to have it. Only I didn’t have time to read it. Busy with last-minute senior things, with ceremonies and festivities, with applications for graduate school, with packing up for my move back to Dallas, I put the book in a stack of other things and left it unused and unopened for a long time. Years actually.

Then one day — again, a number of years later — while going through some old boxes that had been stuffed away, I ran across this little book and smiled, thinking of Mrs. Holt’s sweet face and her longtime generosity. And for the first time ever, I opened it.

A rectangular sliver of paper fluttered to the floor.

A check for $200.

Let me just say—two hundred dollars to a struggling new college graduate would have felt like twenty thousand. How I needed that kind of extra cash at the moment when she’d given it. All of that treasure, wasted! Because I never bothered to open the book.

I think you know that treasures of another kind come spilling out of your Bible every time you open it—when you do open it. But the greatest treasure that slips from its holy pages, the one you need above all others, is God Himself.

Listen, He is the prize. Not His direction, guidance, and clarity, not even His comfort, relief, and encouragement. Just Him. He is the One who encompasses all you are searching for.

Excerpted from Discerning the Voice of God Bible Study by Priscilla Shirer. © 2017 Lifeway Press. Used by permission.

A decade ago, Priscilla Shirer authored Discerning the Voice of God, and since then God has continued to grow, teach, and challenge her in her walk with Him. This revised and expanded edition reflects that growth through new stories, illustrations, and exercises.

Through 7 sessions, discover the root to clear and daily communication with God - humble obedience. Learn how surrender unlocks His many blessings intended for us, centers us in His will, and helps us discern His voice in everyday life.