As Long as the Heavens are Above the Earth
.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21
"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19. And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates, 21. that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
Psalm 16:8 KJV
I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
What these verses say to me is that if I put God first and foremost in my life, everything else will fall into place. Well I even wrote that in an article recently, so I certainly believe it’s true! Knowing it to be so, and actually applying the principle to my life are two different stories, though! It’s all too easy to allow the world to infiltrate my mind and heart and I begin to falter in my conviction . . . bit by bit . . . by bit . . . by bit.
I have found that the more intentional I am about making God first in my life, the better my life seems to operate. When I go to His Word on a regular basis, I find answers to the ‘should I’s?’ and the ‘could I’s?’ I pose to myself. When I use His Word as the basis for decisions, I am more often than not abundantly blessed. When I seek His Word for how to live in the world, I find I don’t get as frustrated and irritated. OK. . . I do get frustrated and irritated pretty often – but I really think it’s more because of my own failings than anything else. I think it’s because of my own lack of wisdom, peace, and trust in my own life that I have issues with others and how they live.
More than that, I need to meditate upon Scripture on a regular basis, just to feel prepared to go of the house in the morning and out into the world. The world can be a scary place without God’s Word as our guide. As I prepare to begin working in a men’s regional jail, I know I will seek God even more in the hope of providing comfort, peace, and education to these men who will be re-entering society. I tend to focus more on my own lacking in situations that are outside of my comfort zone and normal activities—like facilitating groups in jail! What we need to remember, though, is that we need to be self-aware all the time and ask God to continue to reveal to us our growth areas
God tells us that He wants us to lay up His words on our hearts and in our souls; teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. That pretty much means all the time. Throughout every second of your life, remember whose you are. Remember how God’s children are expected to act and to live.
My prayer today is that you lay up God’s words on your heart and in your soul. And that you set the Lord always before you.
Mary
