Devotional Tuesday: Blessing or Destruction
The 2 ways of living...
This past week, I was reading Psalm 1. The first psalm is a contrast between two ways of living. One leads to blessing and the other leads to destruction. These two paths look very different.
Let us ponder on the words of the Psalmist…
First, we ought to reflect on the reality of evil and wrongdoing. The contrast of these two lives must assume that there is evil which can be done. The existence of sinners and the wicked means we can choose to do wrong. Those who are blessed do not walk in these ways.
More so, they do not dwell with deeply with those who do.
Here is the snag. Jesus sat with sinners. He ate with them. Does Jesus not believe the psalmist?
The answer is, of course, no!
Jesus never walks in the step of the wicked. Rather, he calls the wicked to walk in the path of the righteous. In his own words, “follow me.” Practice my way of living…
Jesus delights in the law of the Lord. So much so that he embodies it. It is not a past or passive teaching. It is his active and complete way of living. Jesus mediates on his law day and night because it has become his way of being. Jesus walks the path of the righteous, and as such is righteous. His actions validate his reality.
Another snag. We struggle with this because we often choose the path of destruction. We choose not to delight in God’s ways. We choose to abandon his path, and decide to blaze our own. This is the choice we are faced with daily.
There are only two paths. The path of Jesus and the path of Destruction.
The psalmist reveals the destinations—blessing and destruction—but does not reveal the person who illuminates which path we are on. Through Jesus we are able to find life and blessing.
Jesus watches over us. He sees the righteous because he is familiar with the way in which they walk. It is the very same way he walked. He sees us clearly.
May we choose the path of blessing and not destruction.
May we choose it today... Tomorrow… The days to come…