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Looking and Feeling Our Best


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. (Psalm 119:4-8)

To what or whom do your compare your life's actions? God charges us with the responsibility and "goal" of keeping his commands - with consistency and dogged determination. We are actually reminded that the 'comparison' we need to make is with his commands - how well are we measuring up to what he asks of us? How consistent are we in making right choices? How much does 'obedience' out-trump all the other choices we could make?

Did you ever stop to consider that your life of obedience is actually an offering of 'thanksgiving' to God? Our passage reminds us that when we live as we should (obedience), we are actually lifting thanks to God with each 'right action' that aligns with his commandments. If we don't know his commandments, how can we live by them? If we don't take time to know the one who gives us those commands, how can we understand the heart behind each one? To know God is more than attending church and hanging around with other church folks. To know God means we take time to actually form a relationship with him.

As relationships are formed, we get to know each other - feeling free to point out something that isn't just right with the other person. My BFF helps me see those tiny wayward 'chin hairs' that sometimes escape my glances in the mirror. They catch her eye at just the right moment, and she is able to point them out to me so I can 'deal with them' when I get home. I want that kind of relationship with God, too. I want him to be able to 'point out' those 'wayward' things in my life that don't bring him honor - choices I have been making that don't reflect his holiness in me. When those things 'catch his eye', it isn't by accident - it is because he is the perfect light, and they NEVER escape him. 

Some think commandments are 'laws' or 'rules' that make it hard to live the way we want. Could it be that the 'way we want' isn't actually the best way for us to be living? Could it possibly be that a loving, all-knowing God sees the end even before we begin down that path? Might it be he loves us too much to see us hurt ourselves with unwise choices? I think all of us need a little time with Jesus each day - to get to know him and to allow us to see just how much he already knows all about us. In that 'sharing' of time, don't be surprised if he points out some 'wayward' choice that needs your attention. It isn't to shame you, but to make you look and feel your best! Just sayin!
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