Hello ,

The irony of it all made me laugh out loud! 

This morning I sent out an Open Word e-Devotional about "reading the fine print." When I'm loading my e-Devotionals into my "broadcast" software, I (almost) always press the "save" button. 

That move insures that the ENTIRE e-Devotional goes into the holding place for distribution. 

I neglected to do that with this morning's e-Devotional and so, you only received the ILLUSTRATION, without receiving the spiritual APPLICATION. 

The illustration came to you WITHOUT the spiritual application because I neglected to press "save" to my finished document.   

I apologize. All of this was certainly unintentional, but I am finding SO many spiritual applications for my own life within this blunder that I made

If it wasn't for the keen eye of an Open Word  subscriber, you may have never received this explanation.

For your reading convenience, I am including the e-Devotional in it's entirety. Here it is:

Be sure to read the fine print. We’ve all heard it, but how many people do it? At least one and it just netted her an easy $10,000. St. Petersburg-based company Squaremouth hid the instructions for claiming the prize in the document for every travel insurance policy it sold.

The company planned to run the contest for an entire year. They thought it unlikely that anyone would notice the section titled “pays to read” on page seven of the nearly 4,000-word document. But they didn’t count on high school teacher Donelan Andrews. 

The self-described “nerd” who said she always reads the terms, whether it’s a digital software user agreement, or a travel insurance policy.

Andrews printed out her policy and sat down to read it right away. Soon she came across a section that said, “(This is) a contest that rewards the individual who reads their policy information from start to finish. If you are … the first to contact us, you may be awarded the Pays to Read contest Grand Prize of ten thousand dollars.”

Andrews wrote to the company immediately. She got a call back the next day to let her know she’d won the $10,000. The contest was only 23 hours into its yearlong run. 

“The main reason I always do it is that (in college) I majored in consumer economics,” she said. “So, it’s always been a passion of mine to be consumer aware.”

The company estimates only about 1 percent of its customers read their policies. Andrews, who is soon to retire, said she plans to use the prize money to fund a trip to Scotland for her 35th wedding anniversary.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."  2 Corinthians 5:7

We often times may overlook what the plain word of God tells us, while we're busy "doing life." 

When we ask our Heavenly Father to help us to walk by faith, His word becomes the foundation that we can place our faltering steps upon. 

Jesus did that, and so can we!

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”  Matthew 4:4

Are you reading the "fine print" of God's Word, today? May each of us draw closer to Him, through time spent in the Holy Scriptures.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word