Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 119:97-104
Ps 119:97-104 Mem
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore, I hate every wrong path.
1 Peter 1:14-16
As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
No matter what the product being made, every good manufacturing plant has a goal of “zero” defects in their production process. After thirty years of working in plants, I can tell you that this does not happen. No matter how hard you try, there will be some defects along the way. Some are major and some are very small, but they always seem to be there. Even one in a million is not perfect.
Our goal in life is to be like God, be holy as he is holy, be perfect as he is perfect. This means that we live up to his glory. We love as he loves. We show mercy as he shows mercy. We extend grace as he extends grace. We always have morally pure thoughts as well as actions. We do not lie because we are of the truth. But alas, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But thanks be to God that in Jesus Christ we can have our sins forgiven and be counted as righteous; zero defects.
But the fact that we will and that we do sin does not give us permission to just forget what God says in his word and live like we want to live anymore than making one mistake gives the manufacturer permission to abandon his proven processes and his goal of zero defects. The more we know God, the more we will want to be like him and the closer we will come in our lives. Learning his word and allowing his Spirit to work in us, we are being molded into his likeness.
O Lord God, hallelujah! You have revealed your will to us in the Bible and you give us your Spirit to help us understand it and give us the strength to live it. Thank you for extending your grace so that my sins continue to be forgiven as I continue to live for you. We know that death is inevitable for us all, but it is so hard when we lose someone we love, at any age. Give your peace to those who are hurting at this time. Be with your people, wherever they are and whatever nationality they are, and give us strength to be faithful to you. In the name of Jesus I pray.
Robert
