Daily Devotion

August 16, 2012

Are You Drifting Off Course?


“I take joy in doing your will.” Ps 40:8 NLT

Embarking on a rafting trip with friends, author John Blumberg observed: “We had a hard time getting away from shore…there appeared to be enormous momentum keeping us ‘grounded.’ Slowly it got easier and we decided to relax. And it was during our moment of pause that reality set in concerning our ever-so-gentle-drift out to sea. We immediately…grasped for safety, one arm holding the raft, the other aggressively swimming. Twenty minutes later we’d made minimal progress. A lifeguard in a kayak appeared, and, comforted by his presence, we lightly commented about our distance from shore. But he wasn’t laughing! Orange [markers] had warned us not to go beyond them, but we ignored them and drifted five times further out than we should. The lifeguard didn’t leave, but he didn’t assist us either. Forty-five minutes later I walked ashore…shaking from exhaustion.” We don’t run away from our values, we drift away and wake up in places we never meant to. Sin is subtle; it lulls you into thinking you have it all together, then one day you discover you’re in over your head. God’s Word is our safety marker. David said, “I take joy in doing your will…for your instructions are written on my heart.” The Hebrew word for “heart” means gut. It was used like we describe the heart as the core of our emotions. David’s thinking and emotions were so sharpened by Scripture, it became “part of [his]… being” (TM). As a believer, God’s Word should be so ingrained in your heart that you want to do what’s right, and “take joy” in doing His will.

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