Thursday, February 13, 2020
Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me! Psalm 119:1-8[1]
“Walking” (or living our life) by
God’s law is viewed by some as a constricting set of rules
that won’t let you have fun or think for yourself. But, a little deeper
investigation of the word “law” helps us understand it’s just the
opposite. The Psalmist starts off the longest chapter in the Bible, which
is all about God’s Word/Law, by telling us that those who walk in it are happy
or blessed. It’s is like cooperating with the
principles of our natural environment. When you’re in an airplane at
15,000 feet, it is wise to not test gravity without a parachute.
We all have that internal device
that measures how well we’re doing with life.
It is called heart or soul; some
call it conscience.
If that internal measuring stick is only accountable to self, the
outcome is called sociopathic, only doing what pleases
oneself. For the garden variety
sociopath[2]
there is only one person’s opinion that counts – his own. The opinions of other people must agree with the
sociopath, or those people become the enemy.
There is a sense in which we have
all played the sociopath, placing our own sense of the proper order of
things above even God’s design.
That is a dilemma as old as the creation of God’s angels. Lucifer was/is a psychopath of the most
violent order. He was that from the
beginning; it was what got him kicked out of heaven along with one-third of the
angels who followed him. The prophet
Isaiah quotes Satan’s fatal, psychopathic attitude:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:14
Echoing Isaiah, the New Testament
writer James tells us about the danger of failing to keep your mind, heart, and
soul focused on God’s will:
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8
As the Psalmist and James wrote,
having a divided mind creates instability.
And, when it comes to having a relationship with our Creator, the
instability that having a divided mind creates also means we develop a deep
sense of shame. And our shame isn’t
because God hates us; it’s because we know our loving God
has given us everything, life, joy, other people to love, and be loved by…and
we are responding half-heartedly. We
know that God knows what is best for our lives, and we trample underfoot his
loving offer of joy and peace.
The shame we feel sometimes is also a gift from God; it’s that internal
gauge we were created with telling us we’ve slipped from the pathway and need
to turn around. It’s our safeguard against
the unstable life…the sociopathy of narcissistic self-love. It’s a reminder that loving God with all our
heart, soul, mind, and body is Job #1.
For
You Today
Go to VIDEO
[2] “Sociopath”
is currently used by the Mental Health community to describe a perhaps less
violent form of “Psychopath”. Although
the terms are somewhat interchangeable the main difference is psychopaths are
generally classified as biologically created, while the less-violent sociopath
is conditioned. See article at Psychology
Today
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