The promise is that if you ‘delight’ in God’s Word and ‘meditate’ on Scripture ‘day and night’ (v.2, MSG), your life will be blessed. Happiness comes from what happens to you. Blessing is what happens to you through knowing God and meditating on his words.
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Resolve to focus on Jesus
As we read the list of Jesus’ ancestors it is encouraging to see that they include the adulteress Tamar, the prostitute Rahab, Ruth (the non-Jewish Moabite), Solomon, who was conceived after King David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba, as well as many others. Thankfully, God uses sinful human beings and, therefore, can use us. Whatever your past, however broken your life may seem right now, God can use you to do something great with your life.
Matthew 1 Immanuel (which means “God with us”).
Resolve to enjoy God’s creation
The Hebrew noun for God (Elohim) is a plural noun. The Holy Spirit was involved in creation (1:2). It was through Jesus that creation came into being: ‘And God said…’ (v.3a). Jesus is ‘the Word of God’ and without him nothing was made that has been made (see John 1:1–3).
Every human being is created in his image and should be treated with dignity, respect and love. Your ability to communicate with God is a reflection of the fact that you are made in his image.
We see in this passage that work is a blessing: ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it’ (2:15). Work is part of God’s good creation – not a result of the fall.
Holidays are holy days. They point to the fact that life is primarily about being rather than doing. Don’t feel guilty about taking time off. Holidays are good in themselves. They are also a time to recharge spiritually. You are created with a need for relaxation and rest – taking the time to enjoy your work and the fruit of your work.
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