"Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night." ~Psalm 1:1-2 (NLT)
What a passage to begin the Psalms. The Psalmists got right down to it, didn't they?! I remember a saying of a former student's grandmother regarding her grandchild hanging with the wrong crowd. Right there in our meeting she called her out and said, "Girl, you hang out by the garbage, you are gonna stink like trash!" How true! We hang out in a crowd of gossips, and gossip is sure to flow from our mouths eventually. If we spend time in television shows that go against all moral standards, they may begin to cloud our judgement. Sinners will cause us to stumble daily. That means trouble since I myself am a sinner! I have the innate ability to trip myself up more times than not! What is it about this world that makes it so enticing to do what we know we ought not to do?
Enter in vs. 2 of Psalm 1! That word delight is a small 7 letter word, but is powerful when you get right to the heart of the meaning. The dictionary defines "delight as , "a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture". This Psalmist is calling us to find pleasure in reading and pouring over the Word of God. He goes on to say in the later verses that those who do find that joy in the written Word grow deep roots, bear fruit, and evergreen leaves. How vivid a picture that paints of those of us who are reading this morning? I wonder how many are already excited to rise up early and dive in? Are you still groping for the snooze button? Or are you planting both feet firmly on the floor saying our mantra, "My name is :::insert name:::, and I will rise up!" Maybe you are somewhere in the middle, but hopefully it is getting a bit easier. As I tell my students sometimes, we have to fix the "want-to" first. The rest will follow. So our delight comes after our "want to's" are repaired! I am not quite to the "bells on my toes and birds chirping" kind of morning, but after reading yesterday about the necessary discipline, it brought new life to how I read and prayed this morning.
I prayed for you today. I prayed that you would grow strong in your faithwalk and that you would delight in the Word. I pray that a fire will rise up within you and give you the desire to want to read... and learn... and grow. God has big plans for us, ladies. How are we responding? As for me, today I'd prefer the perfume and fragrance of the Word to the alternative stench. Pray for your words today to flow from your reading. May you delight in the verses and commit them to memory so that they will flow out as a reflex to any situation!
Hello Wednesday!
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