August 26, 29017 A MOTTO FOR LIFE
Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Most people would confess that life is more complicated than it should be, giving rise to a desire to move toward simplicity. This desire for simplicity is evidenced by the current ‘minimalist’ movement that promotes a simple life style. The culture as a whole has believed the lie that life consist in the abundance of things, which sets the stage for disappointment and unfulfillment. A second lie that has duped many in our culture is the humanistic belief that man is in charge of his own destiny and that he is entitled to do whatever it takes to gratify self. These two lies, when believed, work in conjunction with each other and their end result is a complicated life and a life lacking true meaning and purpose. In Psalm 37:3, we find the refreshing and simple truth that is from God, a truth that gives a clear focus in life. First, it is essential that if we are to live out this verse, we must “trust in the Lord.” God is faithful, all knowing, and He loves us, and He is more than trustworthy. When we place our trust in the Lord and our knowledge of Him deepens, we find it to be our desire to be like Him, and because He is good, we will find ourselves being about good works. To ‘dwell’ in the land implies that we must go about the day-to-day activities of life, including working, keeping home, schooling, etc., but in being about the routines, we are to be ‘cultivating faithfulness.’ Faith is a corner stone in the kingdom of God, and because we are now a part of His kingdom, faithfulness on our part is to be a corner stone of our earthly life. Our relationship with God is based on faith and the faithfulness of God; by faith we believe the word of God, and by faith in God, “we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28.) Faithfulness is to be the force that motivates all we do. Both in the major and the minor aspects of our life, we are to exercise faithfulness. When we face difficulties in life, by faith we hold to the truths of God and remain faithful; when we give our word-we keep it; when we face temptation, we resist the enemy who is tempting us and turn from the temptation. The point is, that because we belong to Him, we are to have a desire to live in such a way that the life we live, resembles the life Jesus lived. Notice that we are to ‘cultivate’ faithfulness. Our faith is not full-grown at this point, and there will likely be times when our faith falters, but we must be actively cultivating our faith-so that it is healthy and that it grows. Even when we miss the mark, even when we fail, we are exercising faith when we confess to God, and other affected ones, our fault or failure. So, let us see the routines of the day as opportunities to express faithfulness to God and as opportunities to cultivate our most precious faith.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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