May 18, 2019 -- Psalm 119:97, 103 -- What fills your conversations?
/Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 119:97, 103 ESV
There is going to be a big season finale of a very popular show. I didn’t know this. Yesterday I was at work and my co-workers talked endlessly about the plot, the likely conclusion and how things would end. It was tedious for the two of us who don’t care (that is two out of six who have never seen the show). From there the conversation ranged to comparing the ending of this drama-fantasy with so many other T.V. series. What fascinated me was the detail of their recall. One would name a show and the others could give details, story-lines, plot twists and so on. Shows were P.V.R.’d (can I make that compound noun a verb to indicate shows have been digitally captured for later viewing—I guess I just did). Devotees would watch, re-watch the parts which were confusing or too action-packed and get excited about the latest TV or pay channel phenom.
Christians love the Law of God (and in fact, the whole Bible) with such intensity. It is our daily sustenance. It is our pleasure to dissect the meaning of a text and to share what we have learned with others who are just as passionate. It is not something we have to drag ourselves to do, it wells up within us and draws us. We have learned the Word and continually plumb its depths for every insight. We chew and meditate on it and find even in the recall of it there is sweetness and satisfaction too hard for non-believers to understand.
Even as a TV aficionado will endlessly rehearse programs and not find it tedious; even so and more the follower of Jesus Christ delights in the Word of God and the way in which it yields the fruit of knowing God better. By talking about the Word we dedicate ourselves more fully to Jesus in thanks for all He has done. The Spirit of God Who inspired the original writers of the Bible, still makes the Bible living, sweet and fresh for those who read it.
Tomorrow is Sunday. Plan on coming to church. Join a friend you know is dedicated to seeking God. See what the joy is all about. T.V. shows and sitcoms, movie series and so on these all end and in hindsight can be embarrassing—just like those old college pictures you hide from your children. But the Word of the LORD grows richer and sweeter. The Bible reveals God Who is infinite. Therefore the insights and the riches stretch before us now and promise an eternity of blessing and wonder, awe and pleasure.
Blessed Jesus at Your Word Your people gather to hear You and delight in understanding more about You. You show us the perfect love of our Father in heaven. You reveal His holiness and His justice balanced by His love and His faithfulness. God of measureless perfections, as some of our friends and neighbours are prompted to attend church, cause us, by Your Spirit to receive them with joy. Help us to speak with clarity about the hope that is ours in Christ. We pray that our friends and family will become enthralled by Your law and that You will become the topic of conversation and the delight of life to us all, the sweet taste prophesied and promised here in the psalms. Amen.
