Everlasting Joy
Opening Prayer
My Living Source, in You is life, fullness, hope and joy. You are my all in all.
Read PSALM 1:1-6
[1] Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, [2] but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. [3] That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers. [4] Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. [5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. [6] For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what way is a believer like a tree?This past Christmas afternoon there was a moment I described as “pure joy.” I looked around the crowded room at 14 other people, each related to me, and aged from mid-60s down to 2 (and six of them, my grandchildren, were under 5!). They were all smiling, laughing, happy and joyous. Each person was excitedly unwrapping something, and there was a huge festive air of joy. It definitely gave me enormous joy to watch!But such joy, as we certainly discovered all too soon later on Christmas afternoon, does not last forever. Contrast, then, the true, lasting joy (a good translation of the word “blessed” in v. 1) which comes from doing what pleases the Lord–walking in his ways and thinking more about how to do that (2). And look again at verse 1 to see what needs to be avoided! Maybe today is a good day to set aside some time specifically to think more about God’s law–God’s rule of life. What might you need to change in order for you to “delight in doing everything the Lord wants”? What might you need to give up?
Apply
Ask the Lord to help you do whatever it takes to become like the tree pictured in this psalm.
Closing prayer
Lord, thank You that You are who You say You are and that You do what You say.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.