10-8-2024

Good Morning All,

     1 Chronicles 16:10; “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.”

    What do we seek?  Where do we place our deepest desires and our greatest hopes?  For some it is wealth; for some it is fame.  These are two obvious ones, and everyone sees them but what about us?  Yet sometimes we seek some things that may not be God pleasing. Perhaps we spend too much time trying to figure out ways that we can have control in a relationship instead of sharing in one.  Perhaps we spend too much time trying to figure out how to make our so-workers look bad, so we look better.  There are lots of ways to seek what is not in God’s favor.

    It might be something as simple as making snide remarks about another person, always cutting them down.  It might even just be a look or a well-placed sigh that conveys that message.  We see it in many ways, and it always comes back to our pride and the desire of our sinful nature to be number one.  It is as old as sin itself, who sits on God’s throne in our life.  Is it God or do we try and take that spot? 

     One of the most interesting facets of human life is that when we engage our sinful nature; it is never satisfied.  Very few people who seek great wealth ever think they have enough.  How else do we explain such incredible greed from people who already have billions of dollars and yet try to cheat people for more?  Those who seek fame, even when it is fleeting, never have enough.  How else do we explain all those “celebrity” reality shows?  Why else do we always seem to easily attack or run down others?  If we cannot be the top dog of our circle; how can we put our self on the throne of God? 

     So, we run in circles, like a dog that chases its own tail, until we cannot even stand.  We are exhausted and have gained nothing.  When we glory in God’s holy name; when we quit trying to take God’s place in life and receive His blessings and grace, our life becomes much easier.  We trust in God to love us and to care for us.  That he will richly provide for all our bodily needs.  When we trust God, we can rejoice because He has promised to take care of us.

     Some of us may be disappointed as we look at that.  What we need and what we want can be two very different situations.  Do we need a cell phone, or a big screen TV with satellite cable or a computer?  Do we need multiple vehicles or the place at the lake?  Perhaps we do, but perhaps we don’t.  The central thing is to remember that what we do have comes from God’s blessings.  We don’t worship the blessings or think that “we did it all.”  Rather, we give thanks to god for what he has given us and what he will give us tomorrow.  When our faith is in God, when we trust that he will take care of us and deliver us; then our hearts are seeking the Lord, and we can rejoice in Him.

Gracious Lord, we are slow to see our deepest sinful desires, help us to see them and to repent of them that we may truly seek after you and that we may have that true peace which only comes from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret