Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 39:1-6
Ps 39:1-6
1 I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." 2 But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. 3 My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. 5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah 6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
Luke 9:23-25
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
When I was a child, I would hear “old” people talk about how time flies and how life seems so short and I thought they were crazy. As I got older, it seemed that the years went by faster and faster, until one day my son was grown and no longer the small child I had known. Having been married over fifty years and being the age that is termed as “seniors” it seems that my life has been but a few years and my time is quickly running out. Truly, life is but a vapor, here and then gone.
Many philosophers have asked questions about the meaning of life and have come up with many different answers. The wise man said the whole purpose of our lives is to fear God and keep his commandments because we are all going to be held accountable by him and to him. He also said that the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord. Without a true respect for God, our lives are futile.
To fear God is to respect him and to submit to him as God. To do this we must put our trust in him to guide us and to determine the course of our lives. We love him because he loved us first. We are to lose our life in Jesus and for his sake because he gave his life so that we can live with him in eternity. Jesus is Lord!
Heavenly Father I am thankful for all you do for me. Thank you for your love that sent Jesus to this earth to live and die for me so that I can live with you in eternal bliss. Thank you for taking care of my daily needs and for supplying me with an abundance of things to enjoy and to make my life easy. Help me remember that trials will come my way but that you will take me through them and use them to make me a better person and equip me to help others in their trials. Help me keep my focus on Jesus and things above. I humbly pray in his holy name.
Robert
