“Thou Hast Known My Soul…” Psalm 31:7-8
I love many things. I love to shop. I love to eat. I love to sleep. Getting to bed early is a real priority, and I love my bed. I love to vacation in nice places. I love my family, especially my husband of 43 years, our children, Domino, our grandpup, and of course our grandchildren. I love my Pastor, and I love you Shiloh. I love long, cool summer nights, and baby-back ribs. And it goes without saying that I love the Lord. When I think about the things that I love, I think about the things that endear them to me. I love them all the same, but with different expressions, based on the relationship that I have with them. The things I love bring me great joy.
In my devotions and reading of the Psalms, I have had those moments when I have had to stop and savor how much Christ loves me. I look at all the things that I love, for whatever the reason, and sometimes find it difficult to fathom how much Christ loves me; that He gets joy in being with me; and I have to stop and savor it.
Truth is, I have done nothing to earn it – He loves me! With all that I have done to discredit myself with Him – He Loves Me! When I don’t make room for Him – He Loves Me! When I think more of my stuff than I do Him – He Loves Me!
“The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord love righteousness” (Psalm 146:8), and He Loves Me.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for ME.” (Mark 10:45) Although deity in flesh, not once did Jesus take unfair advantage of finite men or women who spent time with Him. Although Himself omniscient, he gave others room to learn to express themselves – even when they were dead wrong, and he could have silenced them. Stop and savor it.
“Though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand” (Psalm 37:24). And that includes me. “The Spirit helps us in our infirmities, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26-27). And that includes me.
When I think on these things, I have to stop and savor it – that the Eternal God who understands my heart knows what I need even when I cannot express it. That the God of Heaven gives me the faith to take the next step – when I don’t know what lies ahead. That He gives me the assurance that even when I stumble, He will break my fall. He’s done it again. How unfathomable is it that a Holy God loves me, and not just me – You Too! His Word is a constant reminder that there are many joys that still long to be mine. His Word speaks thousands of truths to us to set us free, like birds sitting on a wire, who sing and swing a while – and then fly away. If we don’t stop and savor it, we boast in nothing. If we don’t stop and savor it we won’t realize that with all our stuff, we are incomplete. With all the joys that I have in my life, the joy of the Lord is my strength; and it humbles me to know that He finds joy in me. It is in my real frailty, that I realize I truly have nothing without Him. I must stop and savor it, then I have to bow down.
Submitted By Deaconess Irene Gardon