“The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭30:10-11‬ ‭NLT)

We over complicate the things of God. These verses in Deuteronomy simplify it quite a bit. I love how God says “this is not too difficult.” He’s our creator, He knows full-well our limitations. And He says we can do this.

He makes it extra easy. Not only are the instructions written in His book, they are confirmed in our own hearts.

“No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭30:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

We know right from wrong, we call it our conscience. It’s that little voice in our head that squawks when we entertain ungodly things. It takes effort to override that voice. But if we’ll listen closely, we’ll find it echoing the words of scripture.

The reality is that we are educated and equipped to live according to scripture. We have the Word of God and the Spirit of God. The question is, will we make the right choice? All of heaven is standing as witness while we navigate our one life either towards God or away from Him.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭30:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Lord, may we choose You in our everyday attitudes. May we live according to Your written Word and Your Spirit. May we honor heaven with every breath of our existence. Amen.

“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” (Psalm 39:4 NIV)

David is wrestling with anger and frustration and in the height of his fury he prays what we might consider to be an odd request. “Show me how short life is.”

When David’s judgement is off-kilter, he prays for perspective. His request demonstrates wisdom. When we can remember that life is short, we can choose what we want to spend our time on. David didn’t want to waste his breath. Hopefully, neither do we.

When we learn to number out days, we learn to pick our battles. We understand that all our time is passing quickly and our people are more precious than pesky. We start to see time as currency and our hours and minutes as investments. How will we spend what we have?

I’m learning. With the still-smarting loss of all my parents and grandparents and whole history pages in my head left mostly blank, I’m finally figuring it out. People and their stories are important. Satan is the one who convinces us that they are inconvenient or infuriating. News flash; he’s a liar.

“You have made my days a mere handbreadth: the span of my years is nothing before You. Each man’s life is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:5)

If I’m a breath, I can spend this breath on God. Aren’t we all borrowed breath, really? Didn’t the Almighty bend down and breathe on dust and make us? The best expenditure of our existence is to give it back to Him.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NIV)

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (Psalms‬ ‭37:23-24‬ ‭NLT)

I read this passage of scripture and I picture my children, when they were still small and learning to walk. Their father and I were right there, every step of the way. Tiny chubby fingers gripped tight around our extended pinkies to provide the emotional and physical support as our babies became toddlers. They stumbled, but we caught them and kept them from permanent damage. Why? Because we delighted in them. These little people that carried our image brought us so much joy!

I think this is a picture of how our Father God looks after His own children. He’s always near; present and ready to catch. He’s already cleared the room of obstacles meant for anything less than learning. Our steps are secure because they are well-attended to. We may stumble, but the Father’s hand will be quick to catch us before any real disaster sets in.

How do we delight God?

This is an important question because delight brings Him close and steadies our steps. Delight outstretches Father arms to meet meet our otherwise unstable footing. Delight insures us against eternal damage.

“No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalms‬ ‭147:11‬ ‭NLT)

We delight God by fearing Him. Not a cowering, frightening fear, but a Father fear. The fear of the Lord includes respect, admiration, trust and reverence.

The truth is, the Lord delights in those who will reach up and ask for help. He delights in those who call out “Abba” and admit their tendency toward unsteady step and sin. He delights in those that wholly believe in His unfailing love extended toward us.

Lord, today we speak our belief in You. We reach our hands upward, recognizing our continual need for Your steadying grip. We recognize You as our Good Father and we long for You to delight in us as Your children. Find joy in helping us find our way in this world. Amen.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently.” (Psalm 37:7)

It’s the third of April and snow is falling steady outside my window. The robins that were so eager to announce spring have now hidden themselves as the world stills and is transformed from grubby brown to stunning white. The scene outside echos in my soul as I consider the words of the Psalmist against the clamor just under my own skin.

“Be still.”

Being still isn’t our strong suit in the twenty-first century. Yet, being still brings benefits we cannot secure by any other means. When we are still, we can remember that we are God’s. We find belonging in Him and no other. When we are still, we can look back over the altar assembled in our heart and survey the rocks of remembrance we’ve laid along our journey. We can consider how He has watched over us, provided for and protected us. It’s only when we are still that we can hear the song of His love faintly playing throughout our existence. And if we are still enough, we might even be able to sing it back to Him.

There is peace in stillness and there is power in stillness. But we’ve got to quiet the galloping of our hearts to tap into it; precious and sweet like the maple sap that flows slowly if only we’ll wait. Patient. Expectant.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:13-14)

Lord, let us take advantage of today and the stillness of the world outside our window. Let us still our insides as we wait on You. You are worth it, worth everything. The strength and power and love we find in Your presence is worth every minute we spend waiting. It is an honor to wait on You. Amen.