Spiritual Rest

Daily Reading: Jeremiah 6

Scripture Focus: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6.16)

Devotional Thought: It looked like so much fun!  A double-decker pontoon boat with a slide!  That's the one we rented on Lake Cumberland.  I was so excited to slide into that cool water.  I wasn't afraid of the two hundred foot deep lake.  I can swim after all, and I planned to stay on top!  But, there was the small matter of the four foot drop from the slide to the water.  I didn't time it right, and I got a mouthful of water and came up choking, gasping for air.  Without air, I quickly grew tired trying to make it back to the pontoon.  I needed to get to that pontoon where I could breathe.

The Israelites were out of air in their spirits.  They were gasping for breath, ready to slide under.  They needed to:

·       Stand.  If you need to make spiritual corrections, the first thing you need to do is stop and get your bearings.  Where you stand is important.  Stand by the road.  You have to see the way to choose the way.

·       Look.  This is why we don't sit down or lie down.  To see, you need a higher perspective.  Even so, you can't see if you don't really look.  Honesty in our spiritual lives is a must!

·       Ask.  How many times I could have saved myself a lot of grief if only I had asked someone who knew.  Don't be afraid to ask God to reveal your spiritual need.  "We have not because we ask not."

·       Walk.  When you get your answer, do something about it.  Make the changes, and trust God to renew your spirit.

Stand.  Look.  Ask.  Walk.  Then, you will find spiritual rest.  Jesus said it differently, "Come to me, and I will give you rest."

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for the invitation to come unto you and find rest for my soul.  I rejoice that you are merciful to me even when I don't deserve it.  Help me to stand, to look, to ask, and to walk.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 106.24-31

24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.

25 They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands.

28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;

29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed.

31 And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.