TO CHEW ON:"Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly
Nor stands in the path of sinners
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful:
But his delight is in the law of the LORD" - Psalm 1:1,2
It's easy to pick up the movement here. As my Bible's comments points out:
"The walks-stands-sits seems to suggest a progression of influence that results from initially turning one's attention in this wrong direction" K. R. "Dick" Iverson, commentary on Psalms, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 686.
How is our attention attracted, then turned to the "counsel of the ungodly, the path of sinners, the seat of the scornful"? In our multisensory world it happens in dozens of ways:
- through what we read on the internet, the papers, books.
- through what we watch on TV, movies, the internet.
- through the people we interact with, from family to strangers.
Trouble is, what surrounds us seems so normal, natural, safe. Do we even recognize the threats to our spiritual well-being? The 'everywhere' presence of the secular is why it's so important to guard our spiritual lives. How do we do that?
- by regularly spending time in the "law of the LORD" — the Bible.
- by spending time with godly people who love, respect and live by this law.
- by attending church where we immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of worship and physically identify with fellow believers.
- by intentionally filling our homes and our heads with sounds of worship and instruction. (For example, next time you're making dinner or cleaning the house, or doing anything that doesn't demand silence for concentration, try putting on a worship CD or podcast message by a favourite speaker.)
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" goes the old saying (attributed to Confucius). I would submit that that first step is usually taken in our minds. Let's be watchful over the thought steps we take in our minds so we don't inexplicably find ourselves one day following ungodly counsel, walking in the path of sinners, sitting in the seat of the scornful.
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize the ungodly counsel, the sinner's path, and the scornful seat embedded in the stimuli around me. I want to be a genuine lover and follower of Your words. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 1
MORE: The mind is the leader
"The mind is the leader or forerunner of all actions. Romans 8:5 makes it clear .... Our actions are a direct result of our thoughts. If we have a negative mind, we will have a negative life. If, on the other hand, we renew our minds according to God's Word, we will as Romans 12:2 promises, prove out in our experience 'the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for our lives'" - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 3
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment