Psalm 23:2b
"...he leadeth
me beside the still waters."
We hear throughout
Scripture the realization that "His way is perfect" (Ps. 18:30);
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith
the Lord" (Is. 55:8). His ways are
far beyond our ways, but that's not to stop us from obeying Him. He says in James 1:22, we're to be
"doers of the word, and not hearers only." I could go on, but you get the point. Put simply, as the Good Shepherd, He leads
us; and as His sheep, we are to follow.
The second point I
want to make (and I've spoken on this subject many times), but it's the fact
that we--even as Christians--tend to just want to go our own way. We as sheep are stubborn and willful, and
just desirous of going our own way. Be
careful, Christian! That can get you
into a whole lot of trouble! Just ask
the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years! We're just as rebellious.
Let me remind you of
something: God's ways are always good
and they always have a purpose. Romans
8:28 says this: "And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." First of all, it says all things...it doesn't
say some things, or part of life; no, it says all things. Now, that doesn't mean that everything in
life will be good. We're going to have
bad things happen; we're going to have trials in this life. That's part of living. But God does go on to say that all things
will work together for good. All things
are working together--much like a recipe, ladies. If you were to take a recipe, some of the
ingredients may not taste good by themselves, but to mix them all together with
the remaining ingredients, well, then you have a hit! You have something that tastes good...but it's
not without mixing with those other ingredients, and it's not without going
through some difficult procedures that often include heat. All those procedures cause the product to
form something good. Let's not stop
there though. God goes on to say that
it's all according to His purpose. You
see, God is a God of order and reason and purpose. He never does anything without a
purpose. And what does this passage say
is the purpose? ...verse 29 b says that
we might "be conformed to the image of His Son." That is God's purpose in the mixings of our
life, that we might be conformed to His image.
Question is, how much are we conforming to Christ's image?
Let me close with
this additional thought: Our verse says,
"he leadeth me beside the still waters."
Water is oftentimes referring to
the Holy Spirit. God desires that we
follow Him, follow the Holy Spirit. He
is guiding us; all He wants is for us to follow, one step at a time. And dear one, those are still waters.
His way is restful, peaceful, tranquil, comforting! Aren't those precious words? God is all that, and more! He is a loving, compassionate Savior...just
desiring for us to follow.
May we follow the Savior today!
Merle
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