A Life Worthy

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices (Psalm 16:9a).

When was the last time you praised God outside of church?

Sometimes it’s not easy. I mean, if you start singing at the top of your voice in strange tongues and dancing with all your might wearing only a linen ephod while standing in the households section of WalMart, you may produce the wrong kind of reaction.

Then again, it is WalMart. You may get no reaction at all.

But there are other ways, Beloved. Make God part of your conversations with the world. Show the people around you that “your heart is glad” and make sure they know Who is responsible for your joy. Name-drop the Almighty as though you were talking about a real person who has done great things for you.

Because he is

And he has

Maybe the ephod stays home.

Maybe not…your call.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:8).

Remember the God is my co-pilot bumper stickers?

It’s like that, only

God is your copilot

and

God is your pilot

and

God is your navigator

and

God is your flight attendant

and

God is your air marshall

and

God is your air traffic controller

and

God is the plane

and

God is the air

and

God is your destination.

And what are we? We are the little kids that get wings pinned on our t-shirts and think we can fly the plane–while everyone around us grins knowingly.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

Enjoy the flight.

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance(Psalm 16:5-6).

You know, there’s this thing about an inheritance—you don’t earn it.

Oh, maybe you’re thinking about all the holidays over the years when you’ve driven 100 miles just to eat petrified turkey with your freakshow of a family and you’re saying to yourself, “Oh, I’m earning it, Baby.  Every nickel!”

But you aren’t, really.

An inheritance is a gift that comes to you but was earned by another.  If you earned it yourself, it would be wages.

When it comes to dealing with God, you don’t want your wages, trust me.

You want the gift.

The Psalmist understood this, and he was totally cool with it.  He didn’t stake his claim; he didn’t demand his rights. He rested in the provision of God and trusted in the One who knew him best and loved him anyway.

So how about it, Beloved?  Are you content with the boundary lines that God has laid down for you?  Do you trust him enough to let enough be enough?

Surely you have a delightful inheritance.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods (Psalm 16:4a).

It’s fun to mess with my dog’s head.

Easy, too

I pick up one of her toys–any toy will do–and hold it out to her.  She immediately sees this item as the most important thing in her puppyverse and goes after it with all her strength.

A tug of war ensues.

Then, I hold up a different toy.

Without hesitation, the pup will drop the first toy, this toy that was her entire world, and dive after the second, to which she will hold with equal ferocity until I show her a third.

And so on.

The whole thing is tremendously entertaining, when we’re talking about dogs.

Less so when we’re talking about people.

You see, at some point I will end the game, the pup will ultimately be satisfied with one of the toys, and there will be puppy-level contentment.

Perhaps that’s because golden retrievers don’t need redemption.

For you and me, Beloved, the squeaky balls and stuffed ducks of the world will never be enough. Chasing them will only highlight the emptiness.

So don’t.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”(Psalm 16:2)

Today is one of those days where I find myself home alone.  It’s just me and the dog. And things are…different. It’s not so much that I’m doing different things—I still eat, sleep, write, wash the occasional dish.  It’s that, without my family here, it all seems rather…blah. The people for whom I do the things I do aren’t here, so my actions feel a little meaningless, a little empty.

It’s kinda like that in this verse.  Apart from God, I would still have things.  I would still do things.  I would still be things.  But those things would be devoid of meaning.

They would be robbed of their goodness.

With God at the center, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28, if you’re wondering).  Without him at the center, why bother? Whatever I do, or think, or feel…it’s not going to be good.  Because he is what makes it good. In him I live and move and have my being.

So, without him, bupkis.  With him…Woohooo!

Whadday say?  Shall we make today a Woohoo kinda day?

Happy Friday, Beloved.