I believe that everyone alive might have a desire to know what it takes for them to live a happy and fulfilled life, knowing that their daily labors will lead to success! Many of us may already clip reminders on our refrigerator to help remind us of what’s best for us, and what to try and avoid that day. God does exactly that throughout His Word, so let’s meditate on what the Psalmist has to say today, and how we might apply God’s Word to our individual lives.

 

DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2022-06-21
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BY: Ed Algreen

 

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 1:1-3
TRANSLATION: New Century Version (NCV)

 

BIBLE TEXT:  1 Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked, who don’t go where sinners go, who don’t do what evil people do. 2 They love the Lord’s teachings, and they think about those teachings day and night. 3 They are strong, like a tree planted by a river. The tree produces fruit in season, and its leaves don’t die. Everything they do will succeed.

 

APPLICATION: In the Word of God, we are told that God himself called David a man after His own heart. In other words, David’s life imitated what God expected from His creation. I believe this should be every Believer’s goal, for we know that when we follow God’s commands and His teachings, then it must be pleasing to God! In this very first Psalm, David gives us some attributes, or indicators of a blessed and successful person, and I wanted to draw attention to these qualities so that today we may strive to achieve these qualities ourselves:
1).  They don’t listen to the wicked – this might happen when we listen to what the world is directing us to do for happiness. Unfortunately, every time we turn on the TV, we are given these options;
2).  They don’t go where sinners go – they don’t go to a place where you might be embarrassed to take Jesus with you. Remember, you invited Him into your heart. Remember He lives and reigns in us, through His Holy Spirit. Will you really take Him into a questionable place?
3).  They don’t do what evil people do – the ’evil people’ are those who don’t know Jesus nor are they concerned about Jesus in the things that they do. Our actions are to be compared to what Jesus did, and what He taught us to do. Pilots and doctors follow their text book for obvious reasons. We should be doing the same thing – those things that God has taught us to do or that His Holy Spirit is directing us to do. These will be totally opposite to what the evil person might lead us to do;
4).  They meditate on the Word of God, love His teachings and continually think about them – God’s Word is our textbook. It is our guide to living like Jesus expects of us. To keep it fresh in our minds and to follow its directives, we must make it a priority to read it and meditate on it regularly. When we prepare for a test, we study the text book thoroughly and consistently. In this life, we are tested every day. Making the Bible a part of our mental abilities, we will tend to use its advice whenever we are tested by the world.
So often we tend to feel like it all depends on what we say to a person that may convince them of the Truth of God’s Word. Notice that David only emphasized actions? Isn’t it yet another reminder that people will watch our actions more intently than our words? David said that when we follow the above, we become strong in our faith and committed to God’s commands – successful servants of God. We will not be easily eroded away like a tree beside the water’s edge, but we will stand firm so that others might catch a glimpse of what Jesus actually looks like, and how, through faith, our lives are living examples to the unsaved.
Let me encourage you to reflect back on your life over the past few days, who have you imitated? Does your life reflect the ways of Christ, or just the general public (this world)? Did your life show enough of the qualities of Jesus that you were accused of being a ‘Christian’? Friend, you shouldn’t have to tell someone you are a Christian, they should know you are by your actions, and your demeanor. Let us all commit to live our lives with the teachings of the Psalmist very prominent in our character and our actions. Then, perhaps, others will see Jesus and want to also know Him personally.

 

PRAYER: Lord, we your children need You. We need You desperately to help us live in this world, yet to not live like the world. Living in Your example is like swimming upstream here on earth, for it’s like doing just the opposite of what the rest of the world does. And this has become quite a challenge for us. Please mold us into the person that You need here and now to touch the hearts of the folk that are still in need of you. We need the same power that You gave David. The characteristics to be called a man after Your own heart. You also gave Moses the fortitude to stand firm for You, even when his people were plotting to kill him. I know that You can still give that kind of strength and fortitude to each reader and listener, so I ask for Your grace to help us stand firm against the evil of this world. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, I humbly plead in Your precious and holy name. AMEN!

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