January 31, 2017 - The blessed man of the Psalm-
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by steams of water that yields its fruit in it's season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3)
The Psalmist tells us not to; walk with the wicked, nor stand with the sinner, not sit with the scoffer. In other words, pick your friends carefully, choices made today determine your life tomorrow and eventually, possibly even your eternity.
I think this is a reason some are reluctant to accept the free gift of salvation from the Lord Jesus. They are afraid they may have to change their habits, friends or sometime maybe their jobs.
And this may be true, except, once truly saved it is not something you "have to do", it is something you will "want to do". Your life is then changed for the good.
The blessed instead delights in the commandments of the Lord and meditates day and night. (Meditate - to engage in devout religious contemplations; a quite, spiritual introspection, or look within oneself)
It says the blessed man is like a tree that yields fruit, that does not wither; he then prospers in all that he does.
So, let's break this down and see what it means to us as born-again Christians.
Yes, it is true that once one is born-again that his life does change. Old things of the world no longer tempt him, old haunts no longer draw him, and old habits are left and not revisited. This is all good though and helps in a closer walk with the Lord each day.
Let's look at the results of the born-again life.
By giving up the things of the world in which we once delighted, we now delight in the Lord. Our time is spent with Him and not in the pursuit of worldly things.
The scriptures say the benefits are; we then become like a tree planted by flowing water. Our roots run deep keeping us grounded in the laws of the Lord and we no longer drift around in darkness but now walk in the light. We now yield fruit for the Lord which is the reason for our being here, and everything we do will prosper.
To meditate daily gives us the roots we need, by transcendental meditation we go way beyond simply studying the Bible, we take study to a supernatural level and we find ourselves becoming of a quiescent mind, a restful and peaceful mind.
To take full advantage of our daily walk with the Lord we need to take a particular scripture or passage or even a single attribute of God and spend time in meditation just contemplating the meaning of it. Letting God talk to us as we listen to Him.
In this way we become more deeply rooted, more steadfast in our relationship with our Lord God. By spending this time, transcending the normal study of the Word we become much more useful to the Lord and much harder for the evil one to deceive.
May God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you today...
