Finding Purpose

Today's readings were from Psalms: 68, 69, 70, 71

I'm continuing to read through the scriptures in a year. This is a practice I've been attempting to do for close to 30 years. I don't always make it through in entirety. I've had years where I've missed days and therefore missed sections. I've always found it hard to read through the Prophets simply because they are so despairing. But now I'm in the Psalms and it is a joy and delight to be there.

For example, today I ran across this verse that only in recent years has meant so much to me.

"Now that I am old and gray,
do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,
your mighty miracles to all who come after me. (Psalm 71:18 NLT)

It's a prayer that I can pray. It's been a privilege of mine for the last ten years to see much of that seemingly come to past. I love teaching God's word...my prayer is that I will first live it out myself!

But I believe God's word to be truth. I don't simply mean that I believe it "contains" truth - that I find many are willing to say. What I mean is that it is the source of all truth - the fountain of wisdom that defines truth, life, meaning and purpose. Without the word of God we are left to define truth according to our own standards, and we have seen what mankind is capable of doing when left to their own "wisdom".

I'm also continuing to read the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It was during the Nazi era that Bonhoeffer served the church in Germany. He saw the Nazi political machine and the ideologies that drove it, and he also saw and heard the propaganda that attempted to tie Christian (institutionally) with the Nazi movement. He stood up in opposition precisely because he knew the word of God. Without the word of God he would have merely been a religious or political dissenter...an opponent. Because he based his opposition on the gospel, and the word of God, he served as Prophet to his country...to the church in Germany, and around the world.

Here is our call. We are Kingdom people...armed with the word of God...it is the source of all truth. It is in our Kingdom identity that we find meaning and purpose. It is here that we discover all that God has to say...both to us and to the people around us. Let him first say it to us, and let us make it our own, and then let us be bold and courageous should we need to say it prophetically to others.

Peace

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