Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. (Psalm 119:129, NIV)
A friend who is moving up the PGA professional ranks posted a Facebook status yesterday about the pleasure he gets in helping a struggling golfer turn their game around during the course of a lesson.
That kind of joy is an important indicator for any of us who might be searching for help with our golf. Before we spend the money and commit the time and energy to getting better, we want to know this about the professional we’re engaging: Am I just another appointment in their busy day, or are they really interested in helping me get better? That is, the nature of the professional—like the bedside manner of a physician—can inspire us to get better as much as any practice or protocol.
We need to recognize the same principle when it comes to our life in Christ. His love, which is the essence of his essence, is the impetus for all we do in him.
In Psalm 119, the psalmist declares the statutes of God to be wonderful. But certainly he cannot mean they are wonderful in themselves? They are restrictive and demanding and relentless. They go against the very flesh of us, the fallen instincts we were born with. If I am an addict and these laws keep me from destroying myself, I might call them wonderful; but set against even that life-giving assistance is a loss of personal freedom. How can that be wonderful?
The psalmist could reach this conclusion in only one way. He knew that the statutes of God came from a God who loved him, a God who had all his best in mind. We see this love unveiled throughout the elongated psalm, where God is strengthener (v. 28), preserver (v. 50), our portion (v. 57), gracious (v. 58), good (v. 68), life-giving (v. 73), unfailing in love (v. 76), faithful (v. 90), refuge and shield (v. 114), righteous (v. 137), promise-proven (v. 140), near (v. 151), and compassionate (v. 156).
Knowing the nature of God allows us to recognize the thorough love of God and hence desire to serve God willingly. Know, love, serve—the three really are inextricable from one another.
God’s love is the impetus to our own. “Dear friends,” John wrote, “let us love one another, for love comes from God” (1 John 4:7) and “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (4:11). When we love God, we serve God. And we serve God most beautifully when we love one another.
Find out all you can about the God who loves you. In that knowledge, you will learn to love best the One who loves you most.
—
Jeff Hopper
March 3, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.