The Phil Files

Having gone through the college football bowl season and several weeks of the NFL playoffs, you’ve probably heard this oft over-used phrase, “They won because they just wanted it more!”

No matter how much a cliché this description may seem, the reality is that it is very true. So often, what we find in life is what we actually pursue with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We often become what we seek and often have the courage and conviction to pursue what is hard.

Proverbs 2, our reading for today, calls us to pursue wisdom because it safeguards us from disaster and steers us to the path of God. These verses, however, call us to a strenuous pursuit of wisdom! One passage is especially striking to me:

//Inspiration: Proverbs 2:4-5
And if you look for it [wisdom] as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

//Incarnation:
There are many things I desire, but being part of a culture so obsessed with things, I have to ask myself if I look for wisdom as passionately as I look for riches and search for it as passionately as I would hidden treasure. Wisdom is so undervalued and seldom pursued these days. But my guess is that this has probably always been true since these words from Proverbs were written centuries ago. However, the real problem is not that this poor choice in priorities has always been a part of the human condition, but that it is a part of my condition! I must value, pursue, and seek wisdom more if I am to walk the way of my Father in heaven.

//Invitation:
O Father of light and grace, forgive me for being so hasty to jump conclusions and so slow in pursuing wisdom. Give me the strength to not take shortcuts to truth, but to seek Your wisdom in all things. In Jesus’ name I ask this. Amen.

Blessed are those     who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take     or sit in the company of mockers, but who delight in the law of the LORD     and meditate on his law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water,     which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither –     whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked!     They are like chaff     that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,     nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,     but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 1: Like a tree planted by streams of water! — \o/

So we begin! Psalm 1 is one of two introductory Psalms for the whole collection. This introductory Psalm is focused on our commitment to seek God’s will in His truth. There we will find his blessing and our happiness.

As we read and meditate upon Psalm 1, we are called to recognize our constant thirst for the presence of God and how this presence not only nourishes us, but brings refreshment to others. Our seeking of God’s way opens our hearts to see His watch-care over us.

This Psalm challenges me to follow the path Jesus’ beattitude: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).

Do I hunger for God, His righteousness, and His presence? Do I recognize my thirst for God’s truth, character, will, and holiness?

These questions not only convict me, but they also pull me back to the Messiah, who promised: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:37-38).

O God, draw me to Your truth. Fill my heart and my head with your Word. Refresh my soul with your presence. Challenge my values and take control of my ethics with Your will. Please use me to bless and refresh others. In the name of the one Who is the Living Word. Amen.

Now what is your response to Psalm 1?