Living in the Spirit
July 26, 2017
Scripture Reading: Psalm 105:1-11, 45b
He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.’
that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord! Psalm 105:7-11, 45b
In all the soap opera that was the house of Abraham, God kept God’s part of the covenant relationship while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stumbled along the journey sometimes on the right path sometimes not. We do the same today. Our Psalmist attests to the two-way relationship of covenant and indicates that God even goes further sustaining our ability to keep our covenant commitment to God.
What is it about humans that we seemed hell-bent on seeking our worth through means outside of God’s purview? Our pridefulness, lust for power, and greed are anathema to God’s ways. Yet, we chase after them with every fiber of our being. What would the world be like if we put that much energy in humbly fulfilling the work of justice and mercy that Christ sent us forth to do following his resurrection?
We worry about how others judge us when the only judge we have that matters is God whose forgiveness and eternal love always accompanies God’s judgment. Yes, I know only too well how much we do not want to look bad in front of others. Some of us are most likely our worst judges. We expect far more of ourselves than anyone else does.
I fear we project onto God experiences of trust involving humans that may not have gone well. We need to let those bad experiences go and lean ever more faithfully on God’s everlasting arms to carry us through similar future encounters not let them frame our lives with bitterness.
Prayer: Forgive me, O God, when I turn from following your guidance. Attune me to your Spirit so I can follow you more nearly. Amen.