November 4, 2016

STAYING ON THE PATH

Psalms 23:6 (22:6 LXX)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord to the end of my days.

Encouraging Words

This is the conclusion to the famous 23rd Psalm that so many of us are aware of. What this tells me is that if I strive to live my life walking along the path of my Lord, then His goodness and mercy will be poured out upon me all the days of my life. This path will be filled with mountains and valleys, rivers of torrent and streams of peace, rough times and easy times. But God will be with me all of the time. Often, this journey will require that I separate myself from those around me who are not interested in being a part of this kind of journey and who will do whatever they can to pull me off of the path of my Lord. What does He expect me to do in these situations? First, He wants me to love these people as He does and to pray for them. But it then sometimes becomes necessary to continue on His path and to let these people go their way. It is between them and God as to whether or not they want to hear and heed His voice. This is never easy but is the kindest and most loving thing to do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner?