Being Blessed

Good Morning! 

The weekend was a little soggy … and windy … and chilly – but what should we expect for January?  I spent my time hemming some pants I bought.  It is somewhat difficult for me to find pants that are large enough in the waist … and short enough in the legs … I am curiously wrought.  So … when I buy pants, I have to hem them about an inch for the legs not to drag the ground and get underfoot.  If I don’t, I am constantly hitching my pants up, trying to keep them from under the heels of my shoes.  It was a good rainy-day project.  Do you have any projects you do when you can’t get out?

One of the challenges of retirement can be boredom.  God made us to be busy … not sedentary.  When God created Adam, He put him to work in the Garden of Eden.  Adam’s job was to tend the Garden.  Later, after Adam had sinned, God told Adam that he would have to work … and his labor would be made more difficult.  Still, work is good for us – even if it is not compensated. Having something to do each day is a good thing for our psyche … giving us a sense of self-worth.  If you are still gainfully employed (not yet retired), I encourage each one of you to develop a strategy for your retirement years … some hobby or philanthropic work that will occupy your time.

Yesterday’s sermon was really good.  The text was from Psalms 1 …

1 Blessed is the man^[a]
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law^[b] of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes:

Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person; see Preface

Psalm 1:2 Or instruction

I think all of us would like to be blessed … wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, our culture has a different definition of the “blessed” than that of God.  One of the points the preacher made is that our culture looks at being blessed by what one can get.  God sees blessing as what we can become.  The simple fact is that earthly possessions are just that … earthly.  Whether your house is big or small, you travel in the most expensive means … or by foot; the end result of our earthly existence is six foot by three foot by six foot deep. But our soul is forever … whether we are with the righteous or in the fire. 

If you want to know blessings … delight in God’s Word; meditate on it; make God’s Word a part of who you are and what you will become.  When you stand in judgment, stand with Christ at your side, saying “well done, good and faithful servant”.  Be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in season … prospering in all that God does through you.

What a good thought to start our week. Today, we get back into the swing of things in our ministry to the residents at one of the nursing homes in Cleveland.  Please pray that God will use our session to bring joy and peace to the residents there.

Agape’

Mr. Jim

  

Prayer:  Father, instill in me the desire to know Your Word and to make it a part of my existence. Open my mind that I might be able to understand and apply it to my walk. Teach me Your ways so that I might glorify You in all that I say and do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for today:  Psalms 1