"Give me understanding, and I will keep your law, and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to Your word."
- Psalm 119: 34-37
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to Your word."
- Psalm 119: 34-37
I often require some degree of understanding before feeling satisfied or comfortable. My faith is sometimes contingent upon my level of understanding; thus, my level of trust fluctuates as my level of understanding changes: understanding of a situation, understanding of a consequence or outcome, understanding of a particular event or circumstance. In other words, if my understanding of something is greater, my "faith" is also greater, and visa versa. And that is not faith in God at all; that is faith in my own human knowledge and understanding. My obedience of, and faith in, the Word of God should not be dependent upon my own understanding.
In order even to begin to grasp the greatness of the Almighty, I must turn my eyes from things of this world. My heart must be focused solely on Christ. And that cannot happen when I am in the way. When my focus is on me, it cannot be on Christ also. When my focus is on Christ, my life will change. My relationships will change. My work and work ethic will change. When I focus on Christ, my actions toward others will be like those of Christ. My words will be encouraging and truthful, as Christ is. And I will love others with the same love that Christ loves me. But this cannot happen while I am pursuing my own happiness; my own selfish gain. My life must change. I must be willing to sacrifice my comfort, my home, my pride, my concerns. I must be able to let go of myself in surrender to the Lord. Until this happens, my heart cannot be turned away from this world and toward the statues of Christ.
Anything that is not of God, anything that is not for the glory of His Kingdom, is worthless. Everything is a lesser thing compared to Him.
My heart breaks when I reflect upon the many worthless things that distract me from Christ each day: What will I wear? What will I eat for lunch? When will I finish a particular assignment or task? How long will I have to stay at Ms. So-and- so's house that I hate going to so much because it smells awful and she does not clean up after her animals? What will I do with my free time this weekend? When is the next time I get paid? These things are so trivial. And they all focus on one thing; they all focus on me.
As I go into a new week, I am going to begin praying for a new focus: a focus on Christ. I simply do not matter all that much. Nothing in my life matters as much as my relationship with my Savior. Nothing is worth hurting that relationship. There is no circumstance or event that is more important than that relationship. There is nothing important enough to interfere with my time with Him.
In order even to begin to grasp the greatness of the Almighty, I must turn my eyes from things of this world. My heart must be focused solely on Christ. And that cannot happen when I am in the way. When my focus is on me, it cannot be on Christ also. When my focus is on Christ, my life will change. My relationships will change. My work and work ethic will change. When I focus on Christ, my actions toward others will be like those of Christ. My words will be encouraging and truthful, as Christ is. And I will love others with the same love that Christ loves me. But this cannot happen while I am pursuing my own happiness; my own selfish gain. My life must change. I must be willing to sacrifice my comfort, my home, my pride, my concerns. I must be able to let go of myself in surrender to the Lord. Until this happens, my heart cannot be turned away from this world and toward the statues of Christ.
Anything that is not of God, anything that is not for the glory of His Kingdom, is worthless. Everything is a lesser thing compared to Him.
My heart breaks when I reflect upon the many worthless things that distract me from Christ each day: What will I wear? What will I eat for lunch? When will I finish a particular assignment or task? How long will I have to stay at Ms. So-and- so's house that I hate going to so much because it smells awful and she does not clean up after her animals? What will I do with my free time this weekend? When is the next time I get paid? These things are so trivial. And they all focus on one thing; they all focus on me.
As I go into a new week, I am going to begin praying for a new focus: a focus on Christ. I simply do not matter all that much. Nothing in my life matters as much as my relationship with my Savior. Nothing is worth hurting that relationship. There is no circumstance or event that is more important than that relationship. There is nothing important enough to interfere with my time with Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment