Be A Boulder, Not A Pebble

Some of you are blog writers; others are blog readers; still others are both. For the writers, you will undoubtedly know that your particular forum is often about something in particular.  You could call it your mission statement, or your brand, or your purpose for writing.  And for the readers, you will certainly recognize this kind of central message in the different blogs you read.  They are helpful because, as readers, we can get a feel for what the writer is about, and how we can be helped, by participating in the ministry of writing, reading, and engaging.

This site exists to proclaim Jesus as the greatest satisfaction to our soul's deepest cravings, specifically by pointing to His superior worth compared to other things we seek to satisfy us.  Over time, I have found that what I write tends to be story-driven, or thought-reflective, or question-based.  I hope that it serves towards the end of making Jesus look glorious.  What this style of writing has meant is that posts tend to be a bit longer, and a bit less frequent, than you might find elsewhere.  And that has been good for me, and I pray, good for you as well.

For years now, I have sensed God's invitation to me to come know Him more intimately—not to know more about Him, or to serve Him more readily, but to know Him more deeply.  So I've recently begun a discipleship course that focuses on the daily devotional habits of reading, reflection, meditation, and prayer.  And I want this process to be a means towards the end of my knowing God more intimately.

I have decided to be more intentional about finding out what God is revealing to me in my daily reading—and to know how it deepens my affections for Him and reveals more about my heart attitude towards Him.  We are starting with Psalm 119, and I intend to share with you what God shows to me in the hopes that you will be encouraged to see and savor Him more deeply as well.  Practically, this means posts that are a bit shorter (though not this one), and a bit more frequent, than you might be used to.  We can perhaps see in the next week or so if they have value to you as a reader or if they would be best served to stay in my journal.  Either way, if you find yourself lacking in your relationship with God, be encouraged to go and seek Him in His Word.

Here are a few observations about Psalm 119:1-8:

To be blessed by God, to know Him more fully and to experience His joy more deeply, comes through seeking Him with a fervency that will lead to obedience.  Why?  His ways are perfect and righteous (vss. 1-4).  We may know this intellectually, but to know deeply the law of the Lord, and to know Him who fulfilled the law, compels the heart to seek and to obey.
The Psalmist prays for steadfastness because he does not have it (vs. 5).  You and I are likely no different—desiring obedience, but falling short.  We are too often pebbles that move with the wind.  But the reason he prays this kind of prayer is because obedience is a gift from God to be sought.  This grace to remain steadfast does not come from within ourselves, but from God, and is then meant to be worked out in steadfastness.  Our pebble-like obedience grows with the weight of grace until it becomes an unwavering boulder.
The steadfastness of obedience leads to honor (v. 6), praise (v. 7), perseverance (v. 8), and a continued dependence on God (v. 8).  This sounds theologically fine enough, but how is this practical?  Perhaps in this truth we find a picture of the gospel-centered life.  The heart, given by God towards obedience, seeking after Him, sustained by Him in perseverance, depends more and more on His grace.  Knowing Him more deeply in this process will lead to our praise of Him and His honoring of us—not for ourselves, but that we would not be put to shame in Him, so that His name, and His law, and the Christ who fulfilled that law, might be known as glorious.

Question:  What do you think of when you consider being blessed by God?