Please read
Psalm 1.
Normally, I
do not remember movie dialogue(s). However, for some reason I cannot forget
some words spoken by the character Lee, played by Bruce Lee, in the 1973 movie
‘Enter the Dragon’. In the beginning of
the movie, a martial-arts student comes to Lee. Lee tests the student’s kicks
and tells him to focus while kicking.
And he tells the student ‘it is
like a finger pointing away to the moon, concentrate on the finger and you will
miss all the heavenly glory.’
Coming
to us, the Bible teaches that God saves us for His Glory (Isaiah 48:9-11). But
many times instead of enjoying the Glory of God and working for the Glory of
God (1 Corinthians 10:31) we tend to focus on worldly matters too much and they
drag us down. And then we walk away from God; instead of being like the blessed
man we meet in Psalm 1. The Psalm describes the blessed man –first by telling
us what the man does (should) not do – “Blessed is the man who walks not
in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers; (v.1)” and then tells
us what the (focused) man does – “…his delight is in the law of
the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (v. 2).
In verse 1
the words counsel, way and seat are about the choices man makes coming to his
thoughts, deeds, and relationships. The wrong choices lead man on a way of
regression, first with man walking with the wicked- all the while thinking,
spending some time with the worldly or sinners is not going to hurt or harm
him, even though Paul warns “Bad
company ruins good morals (1 Corinthians 15:3)”. Then the man stands
with the worldly sinners, i.e., he spends more time with them. And lastly the
man sits with scoffers (those who scoff God) enjoying their company.
So what are believers to do
when they are on such a slide or regression? Some change churches. Others blame
pastors and elders. Some even walk away from Christ seeking futile paths of
self-discovery. Running here, there and everywhere they forget that it is their
own hearts and minds that cause the slide or regression. So what are they to
do? Verse 2 provides the answer - day
and night delight and meditate on the word of God. And that should be our focus. When we focus
on Jesus, His way will not seem narrow or bumpy.
🙂
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