Who is blessed by God?

¹    Blessed is the man

    Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

    Nor stands in the path of sinners,

    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

²    But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    And in His law he meditates day and night.

³    He shall be like a tree

    Planted by the rivers of water,

    That brings forth its fruit in its season,

    Whose leaf also shall not wither;

    And whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalm 1:1-4

In our post-modern times, it has become increasingly popular to shy away from the fixed, the concrete, or the absolute. But God's Word does not change with the times, yet remains perpetually relevant. Two things are mentioned as describing who is "blessed". They can be summarized as "the one who stays separate from evil" and the "one who is focused upon God's Word". The promised result is a spiritual life that is characterized by being like a strong, immovable tree taking its' sustenance from the depths of the fresh, flowing river nearby. This is such an image of fortitude, peace and beauty. How I want my life to become increasingly like this!

But in the day-to-day flurry of activities, relationships and duties, our lives can become shriveled, dry, and even withered. The tree has no sustaining power in itself; neither do we. Jesus words in John 15 tell us plainly that “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." But how to keep up this abiding in Jesus?

For sure we can count on Him to abide with His children, but we are the ones who constantly need to be reminded of our Source of spiritual nourishment and staying power. What hope is there for us who are "prone to wonder", forgetting our "rootedness" in Him?

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    And in His law he meditates day and night." 

says the psalmist. How we need God's Word to be sustained, maintained and changed! Every part of it is God-breathed, no part unworthy of our attention. But like "wise" ones, we determine where to feed, taking only the tasty, palatable parts. Like children who do not know that they need different kinds of food we choose our favorites and constantly feed upon the things that we like. But all the time we are growing unhealthy. We lack power and transformation that believers should experience. We are tossed about by the force of our own tempestuous emotions and pressures from those around us. And we realize sometimes that we are very "un-treelike"!

We need the Law to show us God's righteousness and define sin for us. We need the Psalms if we are to be prayerful persons. We need Romans if we are to understand what it means to be a Christian. We need the epistles to help us understand what Church is and how it should function. We need the gospels because we never outgrow our need to hear about Jesus and His teachings. We need the prophets because they warn us of what happens to God's people who go astray. We need the historical books to understand the setting in which God steadily revealed Himself through the ages. We need the poetic books to remind us that we are in love with our "heavenly husband". And we need the eschatological books to keep us living in the hope of the world to come. 

I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third);
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs
Yes, I thought I knew the Word;
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.

Oh, the massive, mighty volume!
Oh, the treasures manifold!
Oh, the beauty of the wisdom
And the grace it proved to hold!
As the story of the Hebrews
Swept in majesty along,
As it leaped in waves prophetic,
As it burst to sacred song,
As it gleamed with Christly omens,
The Old Testament was new,
Strong with cumulative power,
When I read the Bible through.

Ah, imperial Jeremiah,
With his keen, coruscant mind,
And the blunt old Nehemiah,
And Ezekiel refined!
Newly came the Minor Prophets,
Each with his distinctive robe;
Newly came the Song idyllic,
And the tragedy of Job,
Deuteronomy, the regal,
To a towering mountain grew,
With its comrade peaks around it,
When I read the Bible through.

What a radiant procession
As the pages rise and fall,
James the sturdy, John the tender
Oh, the myriad-minded Paul!
Vast apocalyptic glories
Wheel and thunder, flash and flame,
While the church triumphant raises
One incomparable name.
Ah, the story of the Savior
Never glows supremely true
Till you read it whole and swiftly,
Till you read the Bible through.

You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, aweary,
And yawn thro’ a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through.  

-Amos R. Wells

When we make the Word of God our meditation day and night, we do find all that the Psalmist says to be true. Strength is built into our lives, God's purposes revealed, sins and temptations overcome, and our life becomes spiritually healthy, well-rounded and stable. We do indeed yield fruit, are able to maintain in drought (difficult times) and we find ourselves blessed!

Do we need yet another blog?

Why add another blog on a Christian topic? Surely there are enough available on the internet to cover the subject. Well...there are a few reasons I felt this was a good idea.

First, I want to be a blessing to others. What God shows me of Himself and His Word, I hope will in some way help others.

Second, I would like to promote conversation about spiritual life and be an instrumentality of  real spiritual fellowship among God's people.

And lastly,  I would like to provide an online "meeting place" where such concerns can be discussed in truth and in love. Some like to debate the meaning of various parts of Scripture. This blog is not about that; it is an effort to direct us all to "abide in Christ" and to maintain fellowship with Him. It is to draw us into deeper communtion with Christ.

I am looking forward to hearing from you all!