Our Bible verse for today: “I life my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.” Psalm 121:1-5 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “This is how you do it.”
The superscript that appears above Psalm 121 tells us that it is “a song of ascents”. It was primarily written as a song for people to sing as they climbed the road leading up to the temple in Jerusalem. It was also a good song to sing on any long journey, especially a difficult one. The Psalm affirms that the traveler will keep putting one foot in front of the other, keeping his head up and his eyes forward, trusting the Lord to protect and care for him as he continues to make progress on his journey.
This is a metaphor for life. Life is a journey. We make progress through it one step at a time, one day at a time. Often it’s a hard journey, like a long steady climb that ultimately leads us to our destination, but which requires tenacity, perseverance, and steady forward progress.
The way you do it is you keep your head up, your eyes forward, and you trust the Lord. You look to Him for guidance and strength and protection. As was noted in a previous message in this series, the Christian life lived well is sometimes referred to as “a long obedience in the same direction”. That’s a good way to see it.
Sometimes when we think about a life that is well spent we can be tempted to conclude that a life is only well spent if the person achieves spectacular things. Not so. Instead, the picture God gives us of a life pleasing to Him is a simple life of obedience. It’s the life of a person who simply and faithfully does the right thing day in and day out. This is a person who honors God, blesses others, and who keeps moving forward in life, always thinking about their ultimate destination.
Living the Christian life well often isn’t easy, but it’s also not particularly complicated either. This is how you do it: Keep your head up, your eyes forward, honor God, bless others, and keep moving.
Oak Hill Baptist Church