Meditate, Day and Night
2009-11-30

Stephanie got sick at school today, late in the day. She called me right after I got up to get ready to go get her, so I still wound up not picking her up until the normal time. Right now she's bundled up on the couch. She says she "aches all over," but she didn't feel feverish. Probably won't make it to school tomorrow.

My Psalm for today is Psalm 119:105-114.

Today's passage has several topics, but seems to focus on the fact that God's word is a guide to our journey. It begins with one of the more famous verses, about being a light to our paths. But I really like the final verse in today's reading, because it speaks of God being a quiet place where we can retreat. A "hiding place," where we can wait for his word to renew us.

From Calvin: "What the world judges right is often crooked and perverse in the judgment of God, who approves of no other manner of living, than that which is framed according to the rule of his law.

...unless the word of God enlighten men's path, the whole of their life is enveloped in darkness and obscurity, so that they cannot do anything else than miserably wander from the right way; and again, that when we submit ourselves with docility to the teaching of God's law, we are in no danger of going astray."


In Tabletalk Magazine, today, the focus is on 2 Timothy 2:24-26, where Paul describes some more qualities that a servant of God must possess. I'm in trouble right off the bat. The first one listed is "must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone..."

Ugh. Dang.

Yeah, I need to work on that one. Problem is, I love a good argument. Too much, in fact. There's also that part about "correcting his opponents with gentleness."

Ouch!

I'm really good at correcting people. But that last half gets me every time.

I'm not really joking here. These are serious traits that I really need to pray about and work on if I am to be God's servant. People who put themselves on the public platform as God's servants fail in these qualities many times. A true man or woman of God must exhibit all of these traits. They are not optional.


The reading from Holiness Day by Day that I'm reading today deals with how we choose our "mental direction." We do certainly have a choice as to which way our thoughts are going to carry us each day. "If we want to live under the influence of God's Word, our minds must be steeped in the Scriptures." Meditation is important if we are to truly walk in a life of faith. We think all the time. How do we control the directions of those thoughts. According to Psalm 1, by meditating, "day and night" on God's word. "Even the practice of daily Bible reading is insufficient if we go the rest of the day without meditating on some truths of Scripture." Uhoh. "We must choose to meditate instead of thinking about other things or listening to the radio or watching television." WHAT?? Oh, man.

Ok. I don't think this means we can never watch TV, but we have to choose our activities carefully, and we must find a way to fill our minds with the truths of God's word, if we are to successfully control our thoughts. We must decide what we want our minds to be influenced by.


Father, I pray for you help in making right choices when it comes to my mind and my thoughts. My desire is to meditate more on your word. Help me to do that. I need to memorize more so I can ponder the truths during all times of my day.

I also pray that you would help me with those servant qualifications that I'm weak in. Help me be less quarrelsome. Help me be more gentle when I do correct someone. But more than that, help me be very sure that I'm right when I am correcting someone, and not just spouting off my opinions, as I so love to do.

More than anything, I want your word to be the guiding light for my path. Let your word be that light to my path. Let it guide me through each step of the day. And I can't do that unless I know your word inside and out. Again, I pray to be like that man in Psalm 1, who delights in your word, and meditates on it day and night.


My toes are sore. But I feel encouraged. Once again, it is kind of amazing how three seemingly independent readings have merged together with a central theme. I see my challenge ahead of me.

Grace and peace, friends.



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