I discovered something this past Saturday – I can get out of bed in the morning. Ok, I already knew that, but it was the way I got out of bed.
All week long I felt tired and waking up was a chore. I blamed it on the colder weather and darker mornings. They probably didn’t help, but they can’t take all the blame. I would lie there, hoping that if I just stayed in bed long enough time would go backwards giving me 5 more hours of life-inducing sleep. That never happened. What did happen was that I would get up late, rush to get ready and become mad at myself for lying in bed so long.
But Saturday was different. Even though I had had stayed up late the night before, this morning I got right up, had breakfast, grabbed what I needed and headed out the door – even earlier than most mornings!
The weather was a little warmer than some of the previous days, but that wasn’t what helped shoot me out of bed. The morning was still dark and the bed was still comfortable, but this morning I was going to take the canoe up the river and do some fishing. It wasn’t the day, the weather nor the amount of sunlight that made the difference. It was the motivation.
I was thinking of this the other day. There are days, weeks even, where I struggle to be in God’s Word. It’s like getting up in the middle of the week – difficult and undesirable. Yet the Psalmist in Psalm 119 has a different attitude when it comes to reading and concentrating on God’s Word. He says this in verses 47 and 97: “I delight in Your commands because I love them… Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.”
The Psalmist LOVES the Word of God! It’s something He desires to think about. Why is that? Well, perhaps it’s because he has a few insights about it. Read these descriptions of God’s Word from Psalm 119:
“Your Word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”
“Your commands make me wiser than my enemies…”
“My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
“I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”
“I know, O LORD, that Your laws are righteous.”
“All Your commands are trustworthy…”
These are just a few of the descriptions of God’s Word. But when you read Psalm 119 you not only see the description of God’s Word, but of God Himself. God is loving, just, righteous, all-knowing, faithful and keeps all His promises. The words of God mean nothing if not backed up by the character of God. When you recognize who God is and the power and promise of His Word then you, like the Psalmist, will read and obey God’s Word because you love it.
Take time today to read Psalm 119 and learn to love God’s Law.