Have you ever met a Christian who had a peace and trust that was unexplainable in circumstances? Cancer comes to her family, but she does not turn away from the Lord. This is true happiness - a resiliency that cannot be taken from you. But the one who chooses God’s Word cannot be shaken. The one who chooses to meditate on the advice of the wicked is the one who has no root when storms come. The happy life is the life that is like a strong tree, so when the storms of life come (like they do in the rest of the Psalms) you will not be blown away. They get a few short years on earth, but they will not last. The fruit that comes from loving God’s Word is that you are sturdy and strong like a tree, and that all your ways are known and sustained by God (verse 6). The Bible has a different understanding of happiness than us. The Psalms are filled with almost half as many sad ones as happy ones. There are people in despair, people who are weeping, people who feel forgotten by God, and people who are physically suffering. Just flip over a few pages in your Bible (after Psalm 1) and you will find a lot of other people who obeyed Psalm 1 and found themselves in the pit. There is a reason Psalm 1 is the psalm that sets up the book of Psalms. What happens when the happiness doesn’t come? What happens when the blessed life doesn’t come? Psalm 1 feels like a bait and switch to you, designed to get you to do something without delivering on its promises. He is a good God who really does want good things for us.īut maybe you have lived all this out - you love the Bible, you make time for it, you aren’t choosing the advice of the wicked - but your life feels anything but happy. God’s design and His decrees exist for a reason. 7:13), and that person will tell you of the sadness waiting at the other side. Just ask any person who has spent his or her years on the wide path of destruction (Matt. God’s ways and His paths are always for our good. The psalmist says elsewhere, “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” (Ps. There is a pleasantness to following God’s ways. The fruit that comes from this tree does lead to happiness - even fulfillment. Like the psalmist, remind yourself that there is a life to be had if you simply walk in the words of God rather than the world. Sometimes all you need is to take the first step. The primary means God has given us for growing in our faith - for getting unstuck - is His Word. You know you need to go to church or be involved in a Bible study, but you can’t find the motivation. You go to work and find little joy and purpose. Have you ever felt stuck in your faith - or just in life? You wake up aimless. You will not stay the same if you spend time in the Word. This is a flowing stream, and as the water flows to the roots of the tree, the tree grows, bears fruit, and prospers. He is like a tree planted beside flowing streamsīy staying connected to a continuous, life-giving stream, you bear fruit. There is fruit that comes from meditating on the Word day and night. The key to a happy life comes from avoiding one set of instructions and pondering another. Instead of dwelling with those who hate God, put yourself in the presence of the Lord. Instead of putting on the words of the wicked, put on the words of God. The psalmist knows that without this conscious decision, something else will fill your mind and time. You ponder it in the morning and in the evening, and every moment in between. And not just a few minutes here and there, but a life consumed by the Word of God. So what leads to the happy life? Time in God’s Word. But here in Psalm 1, the psalmist says that the way to live a happy life is to “delight in the Lord’s instruction” and “ on it day and night.” Social media is a gathering place of countless ideas either promising a good life, or telling us how to live, or pointing us to the supposedly right path. We are bombarded with words at every turn. There is a happiness to have, the psalmist says, and it comes from avoiding one word and meditating on another.Īdvice is all around us. Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,Īnd he meditates on it day and night. But I want to show you why you should start your year off with the Bible. These are all helpful in answering how to incorporate the Bible into daily life. We even have apps that track your Bible reading progress and allow you to have accountability with friends. There are sermons urging you to make this year your year of faithfulness to the Word. There are articles encouraging you to make it a priority. There are many plans out there to get you in the Word of God this January. The Bible knows our need for fresh starts. But with the dawn of a new year, we are hopeful. Of all the things to put on your New Year’s resolution list, for the Christian, spending more time in the Bible is typically near the top.
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