Read Psalm 119:97-104
Very simply stated: God wants more for us. It is not about our being superior to others,
but our being all He wants and knows we can be.
The key is a deep love for His word and a compelling desire to live
it.
His commandments can make us wiser than our enemies.
He doesn’t want us to be vulnerable and caught off guard by wily tactics of the
fallen one. Our enemies are not “flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) If we are going to be wiser than that, we
need a superior wisdom. (James 3:17) We
also need a wholehearted commitment to live out that wisdom in dependent
obedience to God’s commands. (James 3:13)
Commandments are very clear instructions that tell us
how to give God the honor He is due and how to treat others. When Jesus was asked what is the most
important commandment, He condensed all the commandments into just two. “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE
LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR
HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR
STRENGTH.’ The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark
12:30,31) The word translated “love” is agape.
It means to intentionally choose to care and prioritize what is best for
that person in the choices being made.
It is wanting more for God, which is glory; and wanting more for others,
which is grace. If we want to be wiser
than our enemies, then we must choose to love.
His testimonies can give us more insight than our
teachers. Life needs to be a continual
growth in grace and knowledge. (2 Peter 3:18) He has given us apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers so that all of us can grow in
faith, knowledge and maturity. (Ephesians 4:11-13) We have His word and His
Spirit to validate that what is being taught is truth. (Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 2:12) As we diligently study and
meditate on God’s first hand testimony of what is truth, we can have greater
personal insight as to how God’s word pertains to our individual lives and how
to accurately apply it here and now. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Our understanding can exceed our years by simply
observing His precepts. Precepts are
general rules, guidelines and standards.
When we “watch” with eyes of faith how Jesus lived out the Kingdom life,
we can see how to consistently live God-pleasing. (John 8:29) In the Gospels, Jesus gives us an example to
follow. (1 Peter 2:21; Philippians 2:3-5) We don’t have to learn from
experience what not to do or what works. There is a Hebrew word, sakal, that refers to a wisdom and
understanding that comes from making a mistake and learning from it so not to
make that mistake again. This “wisdom”
also applies to learning from others.
Let’s learn from what Jesus said and did, and avoid a tremendous amount
of “growing pains.” Let’s strive for an early maturity, so we have a lifetime
of wisdom-based accomplishments to present to God. (Psalm 90:12)
God wants so much more for us. He makes most of it
available through His word, including more wisdom than our enemies, more
insight than our teachers and more understanding than the aged. It is
within the pages of our Bible, we find our God, and we discover the person He
desires us to be. It can be immeasurably more than we can ever imagine.
Making It Personal
What does it mean to you that God wants more for you?
Do you truly want more for God?
To want more for God begins with wanting more of
God. Can you honestly say that you have
a driving passion for more of God in your life? Does your current attitude and
efforts regarding studying God’s word bear this out? (Psalm 119:97)
Psalm 119:102 tells us that He personally gets involved in teaching us His truth. It
matters to Him, because we matter to Him What
impact does it have on you that when you sit down to read and study your Bible,
it is as personal to Him as it is to you (maybe even more)?
Psalm 119 is all about God’s amazing word. It is
divided into 22 sections. In the Hebrew language, the verses in each section
began with the same letter in the alphabet for the purpose of being
memorized! That is a big challenge. How about a smaller one? Over the next 22
days, take a section, read it in several different translations, and let the
Holy Spirit rekindle a flaming love for God’s word.
