Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 104:27-35
Ps 104:27-35
These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works--he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.
Life is a gift from God. This is true for the smallest animal and it is true for mankind. When God takes the spirit, life is gone. This speaks to the sacredness of life and it also speaks to the power of God. But, in addition to his power, this tells us that all things (even life itself) is at the whim of the One who made us.
It is for this reason that we are to serve him. Without God in the picture of life, without God in our minds and our hearts, life is futile. If there is no God, there is no meaning to life – it is just a blurb in time, like chasing the wind. If there is no God, then we are all just animals and we live without purpose, with no moral guidance, and then we die to return to the dust and be forgotten.
But there is a God who made us and who made all things that exist. There is moral guidance that comes from his nature and is revealed in his word. There is reason to live and there are consequences in the choices we make. We are made in his likeness and thus we come into the world free from sin and from guilt. It is our sin that separates us from God, not sin inherited from Adam or anyone else.
Our purpose in life is to respect God as God and to live according to his will. This is because we all die and then we will face him in judgment. We must have faith in Jesus as the Son of God and based on that faith, we turn from selfish sin, die to self, and then we are buried with Christ in baptism to have our sins washed away. Then with his Spirit living in us, we are molded more and more into his likeness.
Thank you, heavenly Father, for showing us that you exist and that Jesus is both your Son and is to be our Savior. Thank you, Lord, for revealing your will to me in your word so I can have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Help me always be a servant, both in my attitude and in my actions, remembering that I am what I am by your grace. God, please convict our national leaders so they will respect you as God and will seek to follow your will for us. Since you put every leader in place, help me always be respectful of them in their position. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
