Psalm 37:18-28
...The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing. Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.
God protects the righteous - "those who delights in Him" - and He is also gracious to them, but who are the righteous? Righteous are those who are gracious to people around them. Not only is their life holy, not only do they follow God's will, the righteous can also see the shortage and hardship of those around them, and they're able to reveal the love of Christ to those in need. As we pursue maturity in faith, we often focus on pursuit of spiritual depth; we wish to be with God and we want to be closer to God, and we also want to be more like Lord Jesus. It's easy for us, however, to fall into spiritual mysticism; we hide in our rooms to discipline ourselves and try to make our lives more holy, but we forget that the righteous are those who are gracious to others. They are able to see the needs of people around them and they are willing to extend a helping hand to them. When Jesus Christ was on earth, He remembered those who were weak and in hardship, and those so-called sinners. He saw their needs and He was willing to be gracious to them in their daily life.
Not only are the righteous gracious to others, they are also generous to others. Brothers and sisters, God has given us abundant resources not only for us to enjoy, but God wants us to learn to share with others. The Lord has given Himself to us first, as He sacrificed His own life on the cross for us. In the same manner, we must be determined to sacrifice and dedicate ourselves to others in order to share with others, so that people around us will receive God's grace and kindness through us. Lastly, the righteous are also those who stay away from sin and like to do good; in other word, we must leave all kinds of sinful acts so that we may become holy and others may see the form of Jesus Christ through our lives. May God give us wisdom and an eager heart, let us be close to our God and let us live out a testimony of righteousness in our daily life!
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, please help us to deny all evil things in our daily life, and let us learn to be gracious and generous to other in our daily life just like how you sacrificed yourself for us. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.