“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”
Psalm 103:2, NIV*
I was thinking in last week’s post, “Missing the Inheritance,” about how as Christians we often don’t realize what we have in God’s Kingdom. Peter says we have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and sometimes we live like miserable creatures with little hope and less resources or joy.
That’s a sad truth, and we do need to learn to appreciate and accept all that our Father lavishes on us when He adopts us as His own, but as Jenny from Captured by God commented last week, that’s not the ultimate focus.
The best gift God gives us is relationship with Himself. If we can’t delight in Him, we won’t gain much from the other benefits of being His children. We probably won’t even notice many of them.
God… the God of the universe, Creator, Sustainer, Rescuer… loves us and longs to spend time with us. And we come asking for endless lists of things, or complaining, or fretting. Or we’re like the prodigal son’s elder brother, too busy working for his father to spend time with him.
Father God, I’m so thankful You’ve made a way for us to be reconciled to You, to be Your children. Thank You for caring for us and inviting us to bring You our concerns and needs. Please forgive us for the times we stop there, or we don’t leave our work long enough to talk with You. Please quiet our spirits and teach us the delight of abiding in You. Help us learn to recognize and rest in Your presence as we go about our days. Help us delight in You.
Our song for the week is “Divine Romance,” by Phil Wickham.
*New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Oh, how I’ve been learning and relearning this of late. “Too busy for God” is a terrible thing to be; a dangerous thing to be; a foolish thing to be.
Thank you for a wonderful start to my day. I’m heading for the wing-backed chair with my Bible within minutes!
Hi Joanna, thanks for linking to me in this post! :) I don’t look at my stats often, but I noticed today that it said you had linked to me. Thank you!