Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psalms 1:1
How is our walk today? Who do we get advice, direction, or guidance from? Usually, we think about making a change after New Year by making a new resolution, but sometimes the Lord is steering us to move in a different direction at a given moment in time. Sometimes a move can be a blessing away from ridicule or mocking that one may experience every day. Standing in the way of sinners is to become like them. To sit in the seat of the scornful is to make fun of someone or put them down. This is the opposite of exhortation and encouraging one another. We are living in a world of gossip and sneering without confirmation of truth, and everybody is doing it. What is your moral code of living today? Is society moral code changing from that of the ten commandments? This is what we as Christians should be contemplating and thinking about every day.
Psalms chapter one is talking about two different ways of living. One is living by faith in God while the other has no faith or is wavering in their faith in God. Every day we have a choice to make on how we will walk as Christian’s. We will either choose to learn God ways, or we will choose the way of the world. We are not to be seated with the counsel of the ungodly or be friends with an angry furious man. Why? Because we may go that way instead of the way of the Lord. Knowing your own weaknesses and how you personally may be tempted are the warning signs one needs to be aware of the possibility of falling into temptations. It is the same for an alcoholic who is said to “fall off the wagon” and going back to drinking. It is a snare to your own soul as stated in Proverbs.
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
Proverbs 22:24
Which way will you choose? Maybe we should read more of Proverbs in the Bible for it is full of human failures and ways in which a person should not go and what one should be aware of in life. Proverbs 29:22 states that “an angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” Strife and rebellion are seen within society when a person cannot get what they want. The reason why we have laws is to have peace within society. However, laws change every year to bring new rules within society and not all rules are for the better when it comes to equality. What kind of justice can we have if we do not have the ten commandments, or the Bible? Is all about what we worship? Maybe we should look at what we worship every day. In Matthew 6:21, it states that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So, reevaluating where we stand is important to our walk. This brings us to the question if we meditate in the law of the Lord, day, and night? I know I fall short in doing this and ask the Lord to draw me in and give me revelation to see and understand His way.
Psalms chapter one says that one will prosper when they delight in the law of the Lord [see Psalms 1:2-3]. That person shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water and bring forth fruit in due season. When a year of drought comes, they shall still bring forth fruit [see Jeremiah 17:8]. The person who brings forth fruit is grounded and rooted in God’s ways. When we can gain an understanding that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ and that we are justified by faith [see Galatians 3:24] as the apostle Paul states, we can begin to see that we fall short of living a gracious life in the Love of the Lord. As a believer we are not under the law but under grace. Not to sin, but to love one another. This is how we are perfected by keeping his word on a daily basis. We mature as a Christian by gaining wisdom and revelation to the meaning of His Word.
Whosoever keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; by this know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John2:5-6
God puts it in our heart through the love of His son Jesus Christ. We are to share that love with others. We are to be separate from sinners and not walk in darkness. Walking in darkness means you do not know where you are going. With Christ we know where we are going and that there is a place prepared for us in heaven. We do not conform to the world, for we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds [see Romans 12:2]. Our counsel is from the word of God, our path is the path of Christ, and we are to walk in the love of God. Our confidence is in God knowing that when Christ shall appear we shall be with him. If there is anything in our heart holding us back from the way of Christ, put it down at the feet of Christ. Ask him to purify your heart so that you can be blessed and be that tree planted by the rivers of water who will bring forth fruit in due season. Ask the Lord in prayer to guide you to receive good counsel. Ask the Lord to give you the desire to meditate and read the Bible daily. Ask the Lord for you to not “Fall of the wagon” and go back to your old ways. No matter what state you find yourself in, the Lord is there with you ready to hear your prayer.
