Scripture for Today: Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,”

Recently, I have been chair shopping for our small studio.  The limited space allowed me means I have to be very careful about the style and size I choose.  I especially like the older chairs with their wood carvings.  But I steer clear of those with cane bottom seats.  I am not sure of their durability.   My choice has to do double duty, used at the table and at the desk.  No arms or flared legs, no wide seats or very high backs.  It is a challenge to be so particular!

As believers, we need to be just as particular about where we sit.  Our verse for today is a progression from walking to standing and finally to sitting.  With each action there is more identification with those opposed to God.  After occasionally walking as the wicked walk, there is standing and spending more intentional time with sinners.  And finally, there is sitting down comfortably with mockers.

The consequence of this close association is a weakening of resolve to live the way God requires.  With the approval of those who do not care about God’s standards, one can easily rationalize one’s behavior.  Somehow, wrong can seem right and right can seem wrong.  In aligning ourselves with those who disobey God, we are changed.  Instead of influencing others, we ourselves are impacted to do what we know is wrong.

The problem with sitting comfortably with mockers of God is that we forfeit God’s blessing.  He pours out His unmerited favor on the one who takes a stand and lives for Him!

Lord, help me to watch where I sit!

Scripture for Today:  I Corinthians 9:27 “But I buffet my body and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit.”

I so enjoyed a day at the baths recently.  They have these centers in France but the closest and nicest is just over the border into Germany.  The indoor pool has strategically placed jets along the walls.  Each one is at a different height to pummel a different part of the body.  Their force is so strong it took the polish right off my toe nails!  I felt a bit beat up but good at the same time, a bit like a wet noodle!

As the water buffeted my body, it reminded me of our verse for today.  Paul was using an image of something much less pleasant; a boxing image.  He likened the self discipline he wanted to beating his body into submission.  The context is one of strict training for a race.  Without self discipline one can easily disqualify oneself.  Paul does not want to run aimlessly but with purpose.  He runs in such a way as to win the prize; a crown that will last forever.  To do that he must make his body his slave, rather that be enslaved by his body.  Paul understood his own weaknesses and the potential to become unfit.

If I am honest with myself, I see that I too could become unfit.  So many times I do the very thing I do not want to do! (Rom. 7:15)  The struggle never stops to be obedient and submissive to God’s will.  The flesh is so strong.  Buffeting my body is simply to tell it, “no!”  So much easier said than done!

Lord, help me say “no” to what does not please You.

Scripture for Today: II Corinthians 7:1  “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates our body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

I am thrilled and proud of my latest thrift store find!  It is a silver-plated candy dish, much smaller than the tray pictured.  It did not look like much as it was so tarnished and dark.  But it was heavy and I loved its design so out came the polish.  It took time to rub.  It not only needed lots of product but lots of elbow grease as well.  Little by little the dish began to shine.  Working on it outside, I had to at one point look away as it caught and reflected the dazzling sun!  The end result was worth all the effort and it now sits proudly on my buffet.

That dull gray or black film coating is a product of a chemical reaction between a metal and a non metal compound.  In our verse for today Paul is teaching that we need purifying.  In the world we are contaminated, slowly becoming tarnished and losing our shine.  As believers, we are to be separate from the world.  In keeping ourselves untarnished from sin we are promised a close fellowship with God as a Father.

Those who belong to the Lord have a new nature.  We are no longer made of the same material.  We are metal, and we need to avoid that “chemical reaction” with non metal.  Thankfully, God has made provision for those times when we sin and compromise.  His cleansing is available when we confess, and He is faithful to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).

Lord, keep me untarnished today.  May I shine for You!