Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:33-40
Ps 119:33-40 He
33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. 35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. 36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. 37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. 38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. 39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. 40 How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.
Matt 5:17-18
17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Jesus said he came to earth to do the will of the Father. He also said that those who love God will obey him. Jesus found delight in obedience and we can have that same delight in our lives. In was in his obedience in every detail that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. No one before him had kept the Law perfectly but now it was accomplished. Though tempted, he lived without sin.
But not everything about obedience was fun or even enjoyable. On the night he was betrayed, he begged the Father to find some other way for us to be saved. He did not want to be tortured or to die. But even more, he did not want his Father to turn his back on him as he died as one guilty of sin. He knew that sin separates us from God and it was our sin, not his own, that caused God to forsake him.
Every fiber of his body and spirit wanted to get out of the cross. There was not a thing in this obedience that made him feel good or want to go through with it other than his love for God and his recognition that God is God. Sure, he loved us, but it was his love for God that motivated him even more. So “God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Thank God and praise his holy name that Jesus was obedient!
Heavenly Father as I look at the life of Jesus and then I reflect on my life, I realize how many times and how many ways I have failed to obey you. When measured by your glory, my life is nothing. Yet, in your great love you have shown mercy and grace to me by offering a way of forgiveness. Fill me with your Spirit so I will show your love, your mercy, and your forgiveness to others. Give me wisdom and self-control to live for you better each new day. Use me as your servant, to help others live for you and serve you. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Robert
