Two thoughts to close out the week. First, continuing the theme from yesterday of making my life count, let me share with you a portion of yesterday's reading in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. He writes, "We must run our belief about God into practical issues......give our utmost for His highest, and this can only be done continually.....the test is sixty seconds of every minute, and sixty minutes of every hour, not just during times of public prayer and devotional activity." And there's the challenge, isn't it? To live a life of faith, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 11 and 12), to walk in the way of God's commandments, to incline our hearts toward Him all day, everyday! I don't know about you, but sometimes my "want to", my desire to be my utmost for His highest, falls flat when it comes to everyday real life. But that's something I'm working on, something I'm committing myself to and praying about, something I'm getting better at little by little, moment by moment......And that's what it all boils down to isn't it? Making our visible lives, the part others see and interact with, match up with what our heart knows to be true, what we've learned from Scripture and made commitments to God about. It's a process, one we will be participating in as long as we are on this earth!
Finally this week, let's look at a verse that has tugged at my heart since I first really became aware of it some years ago....."Establish your Word to your servant as that which produces reverence for You." As we begin to examine the verse, let's look at two words from the verse and their definitions. (And remember, you don't need to blindly accept my findings......do some word study on your own! As I mentioned to you early on, there a numerous FREE resources on line if you don't have your own library of word study resources.)
The word "establish" is the Hebrew word qum which means to arise, to stand, to stand up. The basic meaning is the physical action of rising up. Many figurative meanings have developed, including here used meaning "to be strengthened."
The word "reverence" is the Hebrew word yirah meaning fear, which usually refers to the fear of God and is viewed as a positive quality. This fear/reverence is produced by God's Word and makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge. (See also Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 2:5).
Putting all that together, we have the psalmist's prayer to be strengthened by the Word of God in order to gain a greater reverence for God and be receptive to His wisdom. How do you suppose that would be accomplished in his life? In your life and mine? I think we are back to the issue of time. Time spent in the Word is the key! And more of us in the Word leads to more of the Word in us!
So here's a question for you......why don't more people have a hunger for God's Word, or a greater desire to study His Word? Is it lack of desire? Or is it something else? Perhaps WMDs (see yesterday's post), or are our appetites being sated with "junk food" instead of the food of the Word of God? Is it a matter of priorities?
Another question to think about.....what characterizes a person who has reverence for God? What does that "look like" in life? What are the benefits of a life of reverence toward God?
As we finish up the he stanza, looking back not only on this stanza but on all the 40 verses we have studied so far, what has been the biggest challenge to you in your daily walk? What are you going to do about it?
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