One morning this week, the stillness of the pond brought my agitated state of internal conflict into full focus. This conflict (I love it, but resent it) resides within: myself for not expending more effort toward improvement; with others for allowing the same situations to derail them; with my garden because of the constant weeds and work it requires; and with God, sensing He loves me, but assuming He is also disappointed.
Kay Arthur says run to the Psalms when you need comfort, so I did. Psalm 1: 1-2: “Blessed (happy) is the man…(whose) delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” NKJ
More laws, I thought. But the question came, What is the law of God?
The answer, so simple, is also profound. In Matt 22:36-40, Jesus was asked which was the most important commandment in the Law. He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others." TLB
So, if I am to meditate on the law—loving God with all my heart—I need to meditate on what I know of His character, which is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, mercy, grace—basically the fruit of the Spirit and then some.
The happy place this brought me to was watching those characteristics flood into me. My focus moved from my flaws to His beauty! I am amazed as I walk around and think, “flaws just are.” They just are: in me, in others, in my garden.
This isn’t heaven yet, it is a flawed earth, yet God has given us this recipe for respite, “Happy are you if you meditate on my laws day and night.”
Kay Arthur says run to the Psalms when you need comfort, so I did. Psalm 1: 1-2: “Blessed (happy) is the man…(whose) delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” NKJ
More laws, I thought. But the question came, What is the law of God?
The answer, so simple, is also profound. In Matt 22:36-40, Jesus was asked which was the most important commandment in the Law. He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others." TLB
So, if I am to meditate on the law—loving God with all my heart—I need to meditate on what I know of His character, which is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, mercy, grace—basically the fruit of the Spirit and then some.
The happy place this brought me to was watching those characteristics flood into me. My focus moved from my flaws to His beauty! I am amazed as I walk around and think, “flaws just are.” They just are: in me, in others, in my garden.
This isn’t heaven yet, it is a flawed earth, yet God has given us this recipe for respite, “Happy are you if you meditate on my laws day and night.”
