EXPAND TO READ: DEUTERONOMY 16 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 19-20): This is an interesting topic to convict my heart of. I never really thought about it much to be honest, but obviously it is something that You want to speak with me about today. You tell us to ensure we are solely out to seek true justice, Your justice in this life. In doing so, we must ensure we are not doing it in any deceptive ways such as partiality, bribes, etc. You specifically use the words PURSUE justice and justice ALONE. I must admit that I have let things slide in my life with the mindset of something like “that’s just how they are,” or “I love them anyway” or something like that towards people I’ve known for some time and even occasionally towards those I am not as familiar with. I am sorry for bringing my fleshly impartiality into my life, Father. It is Your will, Your truth, and Your word that is to be the final authority for all things in my life, not my own fleshly desires, impartiality, or opinions. If something does not align with anything from You or even goes completely against Your truth, then I must stand firm in my faith to ensure Your will be done over anyone else’s (including my own). Help me to be better at this, Father. Help me to be more brave, strong, and courageous in my faith by standing firm in all that You are throughout my life.
PROMISE (verse 15): This is an amazing verse as it relates to my labors and the response to said labors. You essentially give us a double promise here. You promise first that You will bless us in all of our produce and works we do in this life. You promise second that this will result in abundant joy. I do complain about my work every so often as I have been bred into and grown more into a “complainer’s attitude” throughout my life, especially being in the military for so long where people complain quite a bit. You promise me here, however, that my work is a blessing from You, which I know it is. If it weren’t for the blessing of employment in this life, I would not be able to support my family, I wouldn’t have all the luxuries we have, I wouldn’t even have a roof over my head most likely. Thank You for the blessing of employment, Father. With a shift in attitude towards my work being a blessing from You, I will then be able to achieve the fulfillment of the second promise of those same works bringing me abundant joy. Not just a little bit of joy or some joy. You say here that it will bring me ABUNDANT joy. How amazing is that?! Thank You, Father, for these amazing promises. I know I have a mindset shift I need to do towards my employment and I’m really hoping that as I step into this new, post-military chapter of my life and into a new career that I can begin to see my work as a blessing from You but also begin to truly experience what it means to gain abundant joy from You, Father.
ATTITUDE (verses 11, 13-14, 15): There seems to be a common theme in these verses concerning our works and produce. You tell us that we should be rejoicing and celebrating throughout our works through various festivals. We should be rejoicing before You with all others (regardless of their religious beliefs) the great things You are allowing us to accomplish in this life such as having a job and doing that job well. We should be celebrating Your blessings as those works come to fruition, because it is Your blessings upon us that made them happen in the first place. The last part ties all of these into the promise. If we rejoice, if we celebrate, and if we truly accept all the works we are doing in this life as a blessing from You, then we will gain abundant joy from You. Help me to live in an attitude which rejoices and celebrates You often, Father. Help me to stop living in a complainer’s attitude so much when it comes to my work. Work is a blessing from You and I am very grateful for that, but I do need to be better at looking at the positives in my employment so that I can truly embrace the blessing from You and experience abundant joy in the process.
COMMAND (verses 21-22): Right at the tail end of this chapter, You give a rather straightforward command for a very critical reason. Your command to us is to not set up any kind of alternative idol, altar, pillar, or flawed sacrifices to be alongside or in conjunction with those which are setup for You. Your reasoning is two-fold: 1. You hate them; 2. You find them detestable. You want the best of us, so You are not willing to settle for flawed sacrifices or false idols or manmade altars/pillars which are not representative of Your glory and kingdom. Although I do not do any of these, which I am grateful to say is something that I have at least done right this time, I will say that it’s difficult not to see these types of things at some churches and simply give in or let them occur as a result of them being in an actual church. Help me to be better, as I stated earlier, at standing firm in my faith throughout all things, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 11, 14): These are two verses about two different festivals with very similar instructions about the manner we are to celebrate and with whom. You tell us that we are to rejoice during these festivals; rejoice in You all before You. You don’t stop there, however. You tell us who we are to celebrate with and rejoice with—essentially everyone, regardless of their faith, background, status, etc. You say we are to rejoice with our sons/daughters, male/female servants, Levites, foreigners, fatherless, and widows. Our rejoicing to You and before You is not meant to be for us alone. It is meant for the whole world to see and experience as they can rejoice as well, even if it’s not rejoicing before You. They too can experience the joy of rejoicing in our accomplishments, regardless of their religious beliefs. Although I am to remain God-focused, it doesn’t mean that I automatically have to exclude people who are not of the same mindset as me. Help me to not hold anyone’s religious preferences against them, Father. Maybe my walk in my own faith will bring them closer to You or maybe it won’t, but that is not up to me to determine nor is it up to me to decide what I should keep from them or to allow them to experience because You tell me to include them. Help me to be better at following this example, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Celebration, rejoicing, inclusion, mindset shift on work, blessings, and abundant joy. So many topics covered in today’s conversation, Father. So many topics that I definitely need to work on in my spiritual journey. Help me to be a better man in this life, Father. Help me to be better at truly seeing all that I am and all that I do as a blessing from You so that I may one day be fully accepting of the abundant joy You are ready to give to me. Help me to be more of a positive, spiritual attitude in my works in this life, so that it is You that I praise and celebrate for those works both in the moment and after completion. I know there will be struggles in work at times, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t celebrate even those struggles with You; it doesn’t mean I can’t still rejoice before You for the works You’ve given me. I need to be better at celebrating my work and rejoicing before You for granting me the blessing of employment. Thank You for the blessing of employment, Father, and for the great conversation today on that topic as well as many others.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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