Topic: Change Your Perspective [Monday January 1, 2018]
Text: Psalm 73:1-28
Key Verse: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Psalm 73:25).
A Scottish preacher, Andrew Bonar, wrote in his diary: “This day 20 years ago I preached for the first time as an ordained minister. It is amazing that the Lord has spared me and used me at all. I have no reason to wonder that He used others far more than He used me. Yet envy is my hurt… Lord, take away this envy from me!”
The psalmist narrated in the text how he nearly abandoned his faith in God when he considered the prosperity of the wicked. He thought that if God was angry with the wicked, why do they prosper and appear to live well? The prosperity and progress of the godless who are not suffering any visible or immediate consequences for their actions affected his determination and consecration to follow the Lord.
This continued until he went into the sanctuary and received enlightenment that the prosperity of the wicked, like a dream, vanishes, the same way their lives will suddenly end in eternal damnation. Knowing this, the psalmist renewed his consecration to follow God till the end. Focusing on the possessions of others is the quickest way to become envious and unhappy. It makes one lose perspective or vision of greater values of life which should be our priority and pursuit. God wants you to place priority on the spiritual above the physical, on the eternal above the temporal.
The change that brings proper vision takes place in the inner life. How? Repent of all sins, ask God for pardon and cleansing in Christ’s blood and invite Jesus to live in you as Saviour. Salvation is the basic spiritual experience that opens the door for all other blessings (Matthew 6:33). Without it, earthly life will be full of needless hassles while hope of a blissful afterlife will be a mirage. The ultimate goal in life, you need to understand, is not prosperity or the absence of pain but living in His presence here and hereafter.
Thought for the day: Reputation is what you bring on arrival; character is what you’re remembered for upon departure.
Bible Reading in one Year: Genesis 1-3
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
