Friday, October 3, 2014

Psalm 86:8-17

Psalm 86:8-17
New International Version (NIV)

  Do you accept substitutes?
  If you go eat at a nice restaurant and order your favorite meal, would you object when they brought out a TV dinner that had just been microwaved?
  If you sit down to watch you favorite football team play its rival team, do you mind if the regular players take the week off and a bunch of rookies take their place for the game?
  If you buy a nice shirt, do you mind if the manufacturer substitutes quality material for the cheapest possible input?
  We would never accept a substitute in so many areas of life, and yet when it comes to God, we allow our wandering hearts to substitute so many things for God.  We accept the world's offered substitutions, chasing after them as though they are God, and turning our back on the real and sovereign God.  We ignore God at our own peril, accepting the consequences of the pain and suffering we introduce in our own lives because those substitute gods will always disappoint, because only the true God can live up to the promises that he has made to fulfill and restore us to true and abundant life.  Only God can do this.

May the compassion and grace of God, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, bless you and keep you throughout today, that you may never, not even for a moment, let your heart drift in the direction of a substitute

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