Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 73:13-17
Ps 73:13-17
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
Matt 14:28-31
28 “Lord, if it's you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
When we, as the Psalmist, begin to focus on other people instead of keeping our eyes on things above, we lose hope and resolve to do what is right. It seems that serving God is futile and only brings pain and suffering. It seems that those who reject God have things better than the ones who do not serve him. We see their material possession and their accomplishments and begin to envy them. We see them as they make the pursuit of pleasure their choice of life and wonder why we deprive ourselves of these things and begin to resent the fact that we do. We have lost our proper focus on what is important and is real.
Peter made a similar mistake when he walked on the water toward Jesus. He took his eyes off of his Lord and began to look at the waves and feel the winds all around him and then doubted if he could really walk with Jesus. It is true that his walk was unique in that he was walking on top of the water. But that is actually the point in this because it was not his own doing or on his own power. He was having to depend on God to make it work.
So as we live for God, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and on the things above or else we will forget the final destiny of those who reject our Lord. Moses did not consider the passing pleasures of sin to be worth trading for the eternal prize of glory with God in heaven. Neither should we.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love. As I look at my life, I see so much that is not what I want it to be. I do and say things and wish I had not. I overlook so many opportunities to do or say things I should and fail to do so. O wretched man that I am! Thanks be to God for the deliverance from sin and death in Jesus Christ my Lord! As you lift up my spirit and give me peace, help me be strong to do your will and live for you in every way. Help me keep focused on Jesus and lead others to him by my life. I pray in the name of Jesus my Savior and my Lord.
Robert
