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Some people think they are so smart! I know because I used to be one of them. I loved to watch the game show Jeopardy and impress people with how many questions I could answer. Unless the category was Opera, I could usually answer 90%. Trivial Pursuit was easy. Other similar games and TV game shows were also easy.
Even at family gatherings and in school, I loved to show off. I knew all the lyrics to songs. I knew all the TV shows and movies and who played which characters. I knew every NFL player and their position. I knew historical figures and events, as well as politicians and world leaders. I was a know-it-all and I loved to prove it to people. My wife told me many times, "Tony, you have more irrelevant knowledge in your head than any person on the planet." I took that as a compliment, but it wasn't!
You see, what was in my brain was not knowledge, but just a bunch of facts, figures, names, and dates.
You are probably thinking "Well, what does your arrogant, know-it-all attitude have to do with the "Dark Night" I find myself in right now?" OR "I am doing OK right now, what could you possibly say that would be helpful to me?" If you will just give me some time here, I will share with you what I have learned about wisdom and knowledge. As usual for me, I had to learn it the hard way!
On December 20, 1993, when I woke up paralyzed below the waist, my life was turned upside-down and inside-out. I was only 33 years old and things like that were not supposed to happen to people that young. If you had asked me the day before, that is exactly what I would have told you. What a difference a day can make in our perspective.
The first thing I realized that morning was that all of that irrelevant knowledge in my head, my degrees from Tennessee Tech, my athletic ability, my physical strength, (not to mention my quick wit and boyish charm) were of little use to me.
The knowledge I needed in my time of despair was Jesus, but I had spent so much of my life placing importance on things that didn't matter. Maybe you didn't notice, but one game I did not mention above was Bible Trivia. I had not spent enough time in God's Word to even know the "facts" of the Bible, much less the Truth that I now so desperately needed.
Early in Scripture, God reveals to us how important it is to know His Word. Before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, God had Moses tell them the things they should do and the things not to do (ie God's Way or not God's Way?). He gave them the Ten Commandments. He warned them about the dangers ahead and the temptations they would face. The people needed to know what they believed and why they believed it BEFORE they set foot in Caanan.
Why? Well, you and I both know how difficult it is to figure out what the right thing to do is when we are in the middle of difficult circumstances. In the heat of the moment, our judgement and best intentions often fail us. God did not want that to happen to the children of Israel. He wanted them to know what was right before they got there, so when trials arose, they would already know how to respond.
The same applies to us. Since we are told that we will face trials in this life, God has given us His Word to teach us how we are to live. If we read and obey it, we will not find ourselves unprepared. That morning in 1993, I was totally unprepared for what was happening to me.
In the last post, we looked at Psalm 1:1. In that verse, God shows His great care for us by telling us how to live if we desire to be blessed. No need to think about it or debate it. Simply, do not do these things. (see the post entitled God's Way or Not God's Way? - Part 1 for the examination of verse 1).
The man or woman who is blessed of God knows and lives the "Way"
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; (Psalm 1:1 (ESV)In this post, we will begin with Psalm 1:2. Here we find that,
The man or woman who is blessed of God knows and lives the "Truth"
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2 (ESV)
The word "delight" seldom comes up in our conversations anymore. It means a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment. Those things which we truly delight in are the things that bring us joy. They take up residence in our minds and hearts because we think about them more than anything else. In Psalm 1:2, God tells us that if we desire to be blessed, His Word must be the thing that we delight in day and night. The prophet Jeremiah echoed the same truth.
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV)
In Psalm 1:2, the word "meditate" means to "mutter" (or to have God's Word in our mouth). How do we do that? We have to read God's Word. We must ask the Holy Spirit to help us to understand that Word. We need to find a Scripture-focused church where the teaching from the pulpit, the Sunday School classes, and opportunities to study God's Word in-depth are available. Most of all, we have to want to! It is not just important, it is critical for ourselves and those who will come after us.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (ESV)
As a Christian, I neglected the reading and studying of God's Word for many years. Oh, I read and studied a lot of other things. That was the source of all of that irrelevant knowledge in my head. But, the Scripture says we are to love God with ALL of our Heart, Soul, and Mind. One way we demonstrate that is to have His Word within us.
But why is it so important? Because God says so? Well, that is obviously not good enough for most of us or we would be doing it already. But look at it this way -- if we have God's Word in our mouth and in our heart all day long, then our focus will be on ....... you got it - God!
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9-11 (ESV)
So far we have seen that Psalm 1:1 shows us the "Way" a man or woman of God should live. Psalm 1:2 shows us the "Truth" (God's Word) we should focus on daily. In Psalm 1:3, we will see the results we can expect by obeying the first two verses.
The man or woman who is blessed of God knows and lives the "Life"
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:3 (ESV)
Verse 3 compares those blessed by God to a tree. A tree is a living thing. It is alive. It is beautiful. It has stature. It has purpose. It is fruitful. It is a glorious thing to look upon. That is who we are in Christ. Without Him, we were dead sticks in the mud. Certainly not alive! All over the world, there are 4+ billion dead people walking around with no life in them at all.
Imagine what a sight it must be for them to see committed people of God whose life in Jesus stands in such a drastic contrast to the cold, lifeless lives they live each day.
Why are they dead? They have no roots in Christ. They have no way to draw upon the fountain of living water that He provides to those who call Him Lord and Savior. When we, as Christians, live the "Way" God tells us and know the "Truth" found in His Word, then our root system in Him grows deeper and branches out farther. We become stronger in Him, so we are not easily swayed by the storms that enter our lives.
Why are they dead? They have no roots in Christ. They have no way to draw upon the fountain of living water that He provides to those who call Him Lord and Savior. When we, as Christians, live the "Way" God tells us and know the "Truth" found in His Word, then our root system in Him grows deeper and branches out farther. We become stronger in Him, so we are not easily swayed by the storms that enter our lives.
Notice also that verse 3 says the tree was "planted" by streams of living water. In other words, the seed wasn't blown to its place by the wind. It wasn't dropped by a bird. It was not an accident or a random event. It was purposefully planted in the best spot possible. When you plant a seed, it must be placed in the right soil, at the right depth, and close to a dependable source of water.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Before a tree can be a tree, the seed must die!
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24 (ESV)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV)
We can't do anything if we are dead. We have no hope. No joy. No peace. No salvation. So many people continue to go around trying to "plant" themselves in the right situation, the right job, the right attitude, surrounded by the right people, doing the right things, and trying to live the right life. They try to find some other way (any other way) to become "alive," yet fail every time, because they choose not to do things God's Way.
But God's Word tells us that the one who chooses His Way must first be willing to "die" to his/her old ways and nature. They must be willing to "turn around" (literally = REPENT) from the direction they were heading and place their faith, trust, and life into the hands of Jesus. The old self dies and we become a new creation. A LIVING creation planted and watered by Almighty God.
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Psalm 1:3 says that the tree (planted and watered) "yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither." WARNING! If you do not want to be offended or made to feel guilty, DO NOT read any further! Stop Now! If you continue, it will be your own fault. Do Not .... I repeat .... Do Not Blame Me! Take it up with the Lord. So, here goes! TREES DO NOT EAT THEIR OWN FRUIT!...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17 (ESV)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ....Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10, 13 -14 (ESV)
When we walk in the Way, Truth, and Life, we will be fruitful for the kingdom of God. The fruit will be evidence that we have lived as God has called us. However, the fruit is not the blessing! Sure, God blesses us when we choose His Way, but the blessings are not ours. What we choose to do with those blessings will determine how fruitful we truly are for God.
Blessings are not ours to keep. If they were, we would be like a tree eating its own fruit. When we grasp the blessings so tight and refuse to let them go, we make the blessings more important than God.
So, how do we respond to God's blessings? First, praise Him and thank Him for them. Then (and here's the hard part for most of us) ask the Lord what He would have you do with that blessing in order to bring glory to Him.
Let's say God has blessed you financially or physically or in your marriage or in your family. What do you do with that blessing. Do you keep it in your pocket? Put it in the bank? Keep silent and not tell anyone about it? Do you say "Man, I sure needed that?"
OR
Do you say, "Lord, who do you want me to give this to?" "My heart and life have been blessed. How can I use this blessing to help someone else?" Here is the key to all of this: If you can't give it away, you are in bondage to it and you miss out on some of the greatest blessings of all. When you hold on to the blessings, you become miserable. When you give them away, joy and delight fill your heart.
In Psalm 1:4, we find some of the saddest words in all of Scripture.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.(Psalm 1:4 (ESV)
In contrast to the tree in verse 3, the "wicked" (those who deliberately refuse to go God's Way) are compared to chaff. When wheat is harvested, only the seed that is to be used is needed. Everything else that is harvested along with the wheat is called chaff. It is useless. It has no value. There is nothing good about chaff.
Wheat weighs more than chaff, so in Jesus' day, farmers would throw both the wheat and the chaff into the air. The wheat, since it was heavier, fell back to the ground. The chaff, because it was so light, was usually blown away by the wind. This is where we get the saying "separate the wheat from the chaff."
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Do you see why verse 4 is so sad? God has spent the first 3 verses telling us how we can be blessed by Him, but in verse 4, we see the obvious..... most people will not listen to or obey His word. It's not God's fault. He does not want you or I to be chaff. He gave us His Son and His Word to help us to know that there is a way to live that brings light, life, and hope.
God does not want anyone to go to sleep at night under the burden of knowing they are not doing things His Way. Once again, we come back to the fact that there are no gray areas in God's Word. You are wheat or you are chaff. If you are the latter, are you not tired living that way? You see that things are not working out the way you have chosen to live your life. So, the choice is yours.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8 (ESV)
Allow me to return to the theme of the first part of this blog - the irrelevant knowledge in my head. Most of us who lived in the 1980's when computers first came on the scene became familiar with the acronym "GI = GO." It stood for "Garbage In Equals Garbage Out." In computer terms, it meant that the output of the computer depended on the input of the programmer. If you put garbage into it, your output would be -- Garbage! If you input the correct data, the output would be good.
That was what happened to me. I was constantly putting in garbage and expecting good results. It did not happen. GI=GO! And to be honest, I still fall back into that trap sometimes even now, especially when the Dark Nights of pain and despair rise up.
When I realize what is happening to me I get mad at myself for doing so. But then, I turn to God's Word and God's people to help remind me of the Truth. This helps me to change the GI=GO to "GODLY IN = GODLY OUT!" Nothing irrelevant about that formula. Works every time!
If you honestly look at your life and conclude that it is full of irrelevant stuff and garbage, the only way to get rid of it and be blessed is to change what you are putting into your heart, mind, and soul. Read God's Word. Focus on the things of God. You will be amazed at how your life and attitude will improve.
If you want your life to continue just as it is (garbage and all), then the good news is that you do not have to do anything. Just keep on doing what your doing. I am not picking on you. That was my attitude for a long time. I was the definition of an idiot -- one who keeps doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Don't be an idiot like me! Try God's Word and see how different the results will be.