Scripture: Psalm 1:1-3
Journal: How has the word of God come alive in you lately? What fruit is it producing? Are you delight in it? Are you mediating on it?
Reflection:
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he mediates
day and night. He is like a tree planted
by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not
wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
(Psalm 1:2-3)
The scriptures are not
merely an ancient book of wisdom, or a self-help guide, or a proof-text for a
certain brand of theology; they are the very words of God himself. They are not a text book, but a love
letter. Therefore, they must be read in
a different way than what we are used to.
They are one of the most
tangible places we encounter the Living God.
They are living and active, they are powerful and authoritative, they are
God-breathed and God-saturated. They are
the most audible and reliable voice of God that we’ve got. They guide, they correct, they encourage, and
(by the power of the Spirit) they transform.
The words of the scriptures
are deeply relevant and personal, they speak to each life specifically and to
each community corporately. They tell us
what God is like and show us how to live like him. They are like a javelin aimed at the target
of the human heart, always hitting their mark with their life-giving power.
When we delight in the words
of the scriptures, and meditate on them day and night, they produce the fruit
of life and love and freedom within us. They
plant us in solid soil and keep us from being blown around by the winds of mood
and whim and circumstance. They make us
more into the people God intended us to be.
They make us more able to love the way God intended for us to love.
Thus, when we ignore or
dismiss or belittle the words of the scriptures—when we make them less than
they were intended to be—we do so at our own expense. If we untether ourselves from their power and
their authority, and become the authority ourselves, we drift aimlessly into
our own version of the truth, which is not really truth at all.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: I will walk in freedom, O Lord, for I have
sought your precepts. I delight in your
commands because I love them. (Psalm 119:45, 47)
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