Walking slowly through the Psalms
Psalm 1 (reaction)
It isn't about the physical results of our actions. Even though such results aren't irrelevant, they aren't what truly matters. We are called blessed not just because we are not living out a sinful life, but because our heart is guarded and attuned to the Will of God. We earn no credit by delighting in the Law of Lord, by meditating on it day and night. It is not about doing what is right, and not doing what is wrong. Going to God and delighting in his Word and in his Will and in the the fellowship of his people...that is the key.
We are not bad people that must do good and in doing so become good people. We are the dead, brought to life by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. And delighting in the Lord and meditation on his Word and Will is what we were MADE to do. We are not achieving anything by living out a Christ-like lifestyle. We are simply living as we were intended to, and are thus most wholly satisfied and can be satisfied to such a degree in no other way. Before Christ calls out to us, knocking on our door, we are like runaway trains, plowing through the countryside...impossibly lost and not even desiring on our own to find the rails...or what those rails would even mean.
It is by the work of God's Spirit within us that shows us how deeply lost we are. It is only by the Spirit that we come to know just what those rails, what salvation, really means to us.
It is our purpose. It is how we were made to live. Living apart from Christ will bring no satisfaction. The last verse in Psalm 1 says..."For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish." (Psalm 1:6)
I know this similar thought is mentioned other places in scripture, but I can't think of them off the top of my head...It is my thought that in living apart from God, you will constantly be perishing. Nothing will truly satisfy. You will always be hungry. You will always be thirsty. And you will have no deep roots. The only depth you will have will be the gaping chasm in your soul where Christ should reside.
I struggle with doing little of spiritual consequence, and I have prayed for God to give me a hunger for His Word, His Will and His Presence. I hope that this is a new beginning, a further step, into a life that brings me closer to being...on the right track.
I want to live as God intended. Delighting in Him. Because that's what I was made to do.
It isn't about the physical results of our actions. Even though such results aren't irrelevant, they aren't what truly matters. We are called blessed not just because we are not living out a sinful life, but because our heart is guarded and attuned to the Will of God. We earn no credit by delighting in the Law of Lord, by meditating on it day and night. It is not about doing what is right, and not doing what is wrong. Going to God and delighting in his Word and in his Will and in the the fellowship of his people...that is the key.
We are not bad people that must do good and in doing so become good people. We are the dead, brought to life by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. And delighting in the Lord and meditation on his Word and Will is what we were MADE to do. We are not achieving anything by living out a Christ-like lifestyle. We are simply living as we were intended to, and are thus most wholly satisfied and can be satisfied to such a degree in no other way. Before Christ calls out to us, knocking on our door, we are like runaway trains, plowing through the countryside...impossibly lost and not even desiring on our own to find the rails...or what those rails would even mean.
It is by the work of God's Spirit within us that shows us how deeply lost we are. It is only by the Spirit that we come to know just what those rails, what salvation, really means to us.
It is our purpose. It is how we were made to live. Living apart from Christ will bring no satisfaction. The last verse in Psalm 1 says..."For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish." (Psalm 1:6)
I know this similar thought is mentioned other places in scripture, but I can't think of them off the top of my head...It is my thought that in living apart from God, you will constantly be perishing. Nothing will truly satisfy. You will always be hungry. You will always be thirsty. And you will have no deep roots. The only depth you will have will be the gaping chasm in your soul where Christ should reside.
I struggle with doing little of spiritual consequence, and I have prayed for God to give me a hunger for His Word, His Will and His Presence. I hope that this is a new beginning, a further step, into a life that brings me closer to being...on the right track.
I want to live as God intended. Delighting in Him. Because that's what I was made to do.
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