Psalm 15 (verses one through five)
Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
Today is my youngest daughter's 15th birthday. We decided to read this psalm for our devotional time together. If we wish to live in the house of God, we must be willing to follow His words. We have to change our character to the image of Christ.
When we put on Christ in baptism we are on a spiritual high. We are thankful, grateful, excited. The world ahead looks bright and easy. But as we begin the daily walk, we see it is a much more challenging. There are those who speak against us, we might face challenges as we no longer share the outlook on life of those around us. There are temptations everywhere as we change to reflect the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of this change.
If we want to dwell with Christ today (Colossians 1:27) and for eternity,
we must walk in the light, as He is in the light, (1 John 1:7) giving up our will for His, joyfully enduring trials (James 1:12.)
We have an example in Jesus, who was obedient to the Father (Hebrews 5:8), trusting Him, and then was raised, the first of many (Romans 8:29.) I think of His time in the garden. How alone and abandoned he felt as he waited in unthinkable pain and anguish for what he knew was coming.
I think to myself and share with you; can we do less than Christ? Nothing in my mind is worth missing heaven for and I want others to know that joyful expectation as well. (read 1 Corinthians 2:9)
I am praying today for my daughter as she begins a new year of her life, and for those about us to see life lived to the glory of God and His kingdom. Today is a new day, living in the house of God!
