Thursday, May 21, 2015

In recent visits we’ve amplified the focus of Psalm 1, the secret of the God blessed life. We’ve seen things we need to avoid as well as what we need to appropriate. Verse 2 says the one who is God blessed delights in God’s Word. This delight doesn’t emerge in a vacuum. It springs up in the mind and heart of the one who reads, studies and meditates on God’s word day and night. There is no short cut. This delight intensifies as the process continues. In fact, when you’re faithful in the discipline of hiding God’s word in your mind and heart you’ll find you can’t live without it. It becomes like a child’s desire for milk. Gradually you will crave more substantial nourishment, what the writer in the book of Hebrews refers to as “solid food” or meat (Hebrews 5:12-14). Your spiritual taste buds will enhance your hunger for a deeper understanding of the promises, commands and warnings of God. You’ll want to know more of what God has shared in His love letter to us, the Bible. But more than a mere intellectual understanding, we will want to experience the truth we are learning. We also will rejoice in seeing others experiencing the truth in their lives. In his 3rd letter John says in verse 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” One further element often neglected is faith. Listen to Hebrews 4:2, “The message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.” These are the things that create within us a delight in the word of God and an appreciation for all He wants to do in and through us.