God's Word in Your Life
November 12, 2015 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
Does the Word of God shape and direct my life?
That's the question with which I awoke this morning pondering.
Many things "shape" and "direct" my life. Little things, like hunger, direct my actions on a daily basis. Bigger things, like my marriage vows, shape my identity, my time commitments, and my relationships with others. How does the Bible fit into what shapes and directs me?
Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The psalmist, without explanation, simply states that God's word is a directing and shaping influence in his life. I believe the psalmist would describe this directing "light" as functioning in two ways.
1. The Word of God defines what is good. We naturally long for the "good." We want the "good" life, the "good" marriage, "good" children, "good" careers, "good" days, etc. What defines "good"? Our culture has values that define "good." Advertisers have an image of "good" they want you to buy into. The Bible also defines "good." The difference here is that the Word of God is infallible and authoritative. Nothing can trump the "good" defined by the Bible.
This valuation of good is behind the psalmist's statements in 119:103, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" and 119:127, "I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold." The Word's definition of good led Moses to consider "the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward" (Heb. 11:26).
We make choices every day, seeking the "good." Does the Word of God shape my understanding of what "good" is?
2. The Word of God reveals the will of God. When the psalmist describes God's word as a light to his path, he also is celebrating the revealed will of God, the commandments. Often, when we "struggle" to know the will of God, we think of Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." We want to know God's plans for us! But our (or maybe just my) desire for "wholeness," a "future," and "hope" is probably shaped too much by the American Dream and worldly standards of success (all goes back to what defines the "good" for us).
The psalmist was content, even delighted, with the "revealed" will of God, his commandments. The commandments give us a clear picture of the character of God and what he desires for his people. We certainly fall short in keeping his commands, but through the Holy Spirit we have new desires and abilities for God's revealed will. The commandments are a roadmap for intimacy with God. "By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3).
When we make our "to-do" lists and think about goals for the days, weeks, and years ahead, are we primarily shaped by worldly standards of success or by the Word of God? God's Word is not necessarily antithetical to American standards of success, but that is not primary in God's will. God's will for your success has more to do with faithfulness to His Word and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
Does the Word of God shape and direct my life? May I, and you, join the psalmist in saying, "More to be desired [is the Word of God] than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb" (Ps. 19:10).
