The digital world is a constant catalyst to discontent, whether it’s bombarding us with custom-made ads based on our surfing habits or pinging notifications of the lastest snapshot of a friend’s carefully stage-managed online profile. Today, as perhaps never before the history of the human race, we are vulnerable to the cancer of discontentment.

On 28 September, this Friday, P&R are bringing out a new series of Bible reading aids called ’31-Day Devotionals for Life’, edited by Deepak Reju. Reju introduces these devotionals by comparing them to a bucket of water catching drips from a leaking ceiling: it’s slow and it builds over time. There is one for each day of the month. They start with Scripture because it is the Word of God that is the most powerful force in the universe. They apply Scripture because God’s Word changes how we live. And they are intended to lead the reader to worship, re-orientating us back to the One who alone is worthy of all our praise, trust and obedience. These are extremely useful little books for our age when people struggle with Bible reading and meditation because of the busyness of life and the degenerative effect our digital media has on attention spans. These devotionals are full of biblical truth delivered in a thought-provoking way. They have two or three questions for reflection and personal application at the end of each chapter and will be a great stimulus to mulling over the topic dealt with throughout the day. The limitation of brevity can produce shallowness, but it doesn’t have to—it can also force a good and thoughtful author to distill their thoughts into a cogent and rich summary of truth. That (the latter!) is what characterises these devotionals.

There are at least six titles due to be released on Friday, dealing with addictive habits, restoration after adultery, doubt, grief and pornography. I have just finished reading an advance copy of our friend Megan Hill’s contribution to the series. It’s entitled ‘Contentment: Seeing God’s Goodness’ and I want to commend it highly to you. The atmosphere we breathe is heavy with discontent. Paradoxically, the more we have, the more we seem to be tempted to be discontent with our lot. The digital world is a constant catalyst to discontent, whether it’s bombarding us with custom-made ads based on our surfing habits or pinging notifications of the lastest snapshot of a friend’s carefully stage-managed online profile. Today, as perhaps never before the history of the human race, we are vulnerable to the cancer of discontentment.

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