Title: When Doing the Hard Things Are the Best Things
Text:
Psalm 34:11-14 (HCSB)
11 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
14 Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.
Observation:
In our focal passage for today David shares some of his wisdom on how to have a good life by putting good days together one at a time. The key is learning how to deal daily with things that come our way; this will mean doing the hard things that are often the best things.
1 Peter 3:8-12 (HCSB)
8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble,
9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.
10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit,
11 and he must turn away from evil and do what is good. He must seek peace and pursue it,
12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.
Take an inventory of your life and see how well you measure up to the standard set out by David in the Psalm, and Peter in his letter. Peter embraced the wisdom of David, and so should we.
Prayer:
Father God, Sovereign Lord, my dear Father, I pray that You would give me and all of Your people the wisdom and the will to see and do the hard things; the right things, when we are presented with many difficult circumstances that come our way on a daily basis. Father, we know that You bless those whose wisdom and strength is in Jesus. Father, we are praying, watching, and walking as the Holy Spirit leads and Jesus guides us. Amen.
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/h/568#ixzz2lcgNp2jM
