April 13, 2007
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
--Psalm 1:1-4
We all have one basic choice that we must make every day: to live for Christ or to live for ourselves. And the result of that choice will be either good fruit or useless chaff.
That word “chaff” may not mean a lot in our 21st century world, but it was a powerful picture in an agricultural society. Chaff was the husks that needed to be separated from the grain of wheat if the wheat was to be used. So the farmer would throw the grain into the air and the lighter, useless chaff would be blown away by the wind.
That’s the picture of a life lived for self. A life that is blown around by the winds of life. Unstable and unsure.
But Psalm 1:1-3 gives us the other side of the story. It says that a person who walks with the Lord, who does not seek the counsel of or confide in sinners, but who trusts in God, will stand strong like a tree with deep roots that cannot be blown about.
On our own…living for ourselves…we are weak and get tossed about by all the winds of life. But living for God, in His strength, we can stand strong and tall against the strongest gales of life.
So the choice you have is clear. You can either stand in faith or fall in failure. Which will you choose today?
IF YOU Live for Christ, you won’t be blown around by the winds of the world.
