Somehow, I've headed down a path that is not the right one. I need Jesus to guide me back to the good path.
This is appropriate for today...
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. Verses 1-3
Habakkuk 2:1-4
I had to go back and remember the last devotion. In that one, Habakkuk had asked some hard questions of God. He had spoken his mind. Now, in chapter 2, he waits to see how God will respond. Here is God's response:
Write this.
Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming--it can hardly wait!
And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It's on its way. It will come right on time.
Look at that man, bloated by self-importance--full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive.
I desire to be this person, the person in right standing. I believe that I am living of life of loyalty and steady believing, in spite of my occasional ventures down wrong paths. "Steady" is a word that, to me, means a consistent movement (or in some cases, non-movement). In this context, I see "steady" as meaning continuously moving forward, even if the forward progress moves from side to side a little. Obviously, it would be better if we moved straight ahead all the time. But we don't. We "zig-zag" a bit. But I think that, in God's eyes, that's ok, as long as we are still moving forard and always remember to "zag" pretty soon after we "zig." Jesus is the standard. The "plumb-line" (remember that one from a few weeks ago?). If we think of that standard as a straight line on the ground, we might be moving forward, along that line, but our path might look like a winding road, veering back and forth on either side of the line. The important thing is to keep Jesus in sight. If we veer too far, we lose sight of our standard.
One note I want to add. The second part of the fourth verse, which Peterson has translated, "But the person in right standing before God..." is actually the famous line that Martin Luther quoted in his quest for truth that resulted in the Reformation. The just shall live by faith.
"The just"---"The person in right standing before God"
"shall live"---"is fully alive, really alive"
"by faith"---"through loyal and steady believing"
Grace and peace, friends.