Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 40:5-8
Ps 40:5-8
5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come--it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
Heb 10:8-10
8 First he [Christ] said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Do you remember the story of a man named Enoch? He walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. This man did not die but just left this earth to live with the Lord. But if we back up a few verses, we read that he had a son and then he walked with God for 300 years. His walking with God was not just a description of his miraculous ascension; walking with God was the way he lived on earth. This is very similar to what Paul meant when he said that he no longer lived, but Christ lived in him. He was not living for himself but was living to please God.
Jesus is said to have quoted some of the Psalm in our devotional and applied it to himself. This quotation tells us that Jesus was living as a man, human and flesh but in his mind, he was just living to please his heavenly Father. This is why he could tell his apostles that since they had seen him, they had seen the Father. He, on earth, was the exact representation of the Father, the demonstration of the mind and will of God for all to see. So he prayed: “not my will but thine”.
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, Barnabas and many others have lived and left us examples of how we are to trust God and serve him. We show our faith in the way we live, which is shown by our priorities in life. Do we spend time reading his word, praying, visiting the sick, helping those in need? This is his will for us.
Heavenly Father, increase my faith and help me make your will my own. Help me not only want to do your will in all things, but give me wisdom, strength and self-control to really put it into practice as my way of life. Forgive me when I fail. Open my eyes to the opportunities to do good. Use me to teach, to encourage, to listen and to help those in any need, and to do it to your glory. Thank you for leading and helping me in more ways than I can know. As we each adjust to life without those we love, give us strength and peace. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
