Nearly every morning for many years I’ve gotten up early to read my bible, pray, reflect and journal. This has been the case even on many days when I didn’t feel like it. And many days even after reading, trying to pray and reflecting, I have been left without a lot of clarity, joy or insight.
Yet I keep on. Why? Why do any of us who are trying to follow God keep reading the bible, praying or doing any kind of spiritual ritual when sometimes they seem fruitless? For me, it’s because that’s not always true. And when the monotonous, sometimes seemingly fruitless digging unearths a treasure that impacts your life in deep ways, it keeps you digging for more.
This section of Psalm 119 – from verses 89-96, points to this truth. The writer clearly knows, intimately, what difficulty is. He also knows the word of God – not the “bible” as we have it but rather the bigger truth of who God is and his faithfulness through it all. I encourage you this week to give God’s word a shot – each every day – and see if you don’t find some treasures. The mine is deep and boundless.
Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Joel
Joel Searby
