Psalm 1:1-2

NASB	NLT	VOICE
1 Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!	1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.	1 God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn: when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes, When you avoid sin’s highway.
2  But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, And on His Law he meditates day and night.	2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.	2 For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness. It is your focus – from dusk to dawn.

Walk This Way and be Blessed

To be blessed means to have spiritual prosperity and well-being. Being blessed is a state of happiness or divine favor. Those who receive God’s blessing do not walk with the advice from the wicked. They don’t live in a way that keeps them from following God’s commands. We aren’t to take on a lifestyle that rejects God’s laws. Nor are we to act in a way that allows for a continuous sin. We aren’t to fully participate in mocking those who do what is right. Simply put:

• Don’t take advice to not follow God’s commands
• Don’t live a continuous sinful lifestyle
• Don’t mock who do follow God

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Which one of these three acts do you struggle with the most?

The Progression of Sin and How to Break the Cycle

Notice the progression from the psalmist: walking à standing à sitting. This is how sin can gradually entice us if we are not aware of our relationship with God. It starts with being aware of what information that we take in. Those who don’t follow God, often mock those who follow God, questioning why Christians: “follow an evil God” and “commit to something that isn’t real.” It’s easy for us to be tempted to agree with them because we want to fit in. We want to stand with the crowd and be accepted by those around us. However, we must remember that Jesus told us that following Him would be different than that of the world. Those of the world wouldn’t often stand with us because of following Jesus, and how counter cultural His way of life was. When it comes to avoiding sin, we need to remember this key point: we are not perfect. We are going to mess up. We are going to miss the mark of doing what God calls us to do. We must work to continuously progress and get better each and every day. We will never be perfect, and each day we progress to be more and more like Christ – the ultimate perfect human – the more we will maximize our relationship with God.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What is one thing going on in your life that you are struggling to perfect in your life?

What Does it Mean to Follow the Law

The law of the Lord is not just a list of rules, but it’s a revealing of who God is and what He wants for our world. Delighting in this context is a way to contrast the indifference shown by unbelievers. In its historical context, the Israelites received the Law as a covenantal guide for living in a right relationship with God. The Law serves as a pre-cursor before Christ, who fulfilled the law. To meditate on the law means to deeply reflect and internalize what it says every day. The Hebrew word suggests one murmurs it or speaks it to themselves.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT:  How do you study God’s Word?

The Murmurs of a Relational Covenant

The righteous are set apart by their love for God’s law. What does it mean to love the commands of God? It’s a joyous willingness to follow what it commands. It’s the enthusiasm to follow God’s relational covenant to achieve the lifestyle that He calls us to live. It’s not about the laws themselves, but it’s about our response to God with them. Some Christians can be TOO attentive to the verbiage of the laws, not recognizing that these laws were created for a specific culture and people. For us, we need to look to Jesus for how to respond to these laws. Jesus came as a human representation of what those laws are to reflect: how we can honor God with all parts of our being and how we can love each other as God has loved us.  When we use those commands as the parameters for our life, we can better understand the historical context of the original Torah and how that correlates to our lives today. We often use the original Torah to judge, rebuke, and condemn Christians today, especially those who identify as progressive Christians. I see a lot of people use the: “The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it,” mindset when it comes to the original teachings. It’s half-true. Again, we must remember that the word of the Bible was not written to us, but were written for us. It’s a covenantal reminder of how we should live according to God’s will.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What is one command from the Torah that you struggle with comprehending and/or following?

PRAY ACTION

Praise God for His eternal word, helping us through all walks of life for all of humanity.

Read Colossians 3:16

Ask God to keep His word close to our hearts. Help us grow stronger in His word.

You wake up every day doing your best. Don’t allow the world to keep you down, but let God and His Word help get you up and moving as His hands and feet in the world.

Next slice of manna: Worshipping with Joy || Psalm 95:1-2 || Manna for the Mind #302