“I thought on my ways, and turned my
feet unto thy testimonies.” (Psalm 119:59)
“I
took a good look at myself and didn’t like what I saw.” Someone I know once made
this honest admission to me, and he or she was not speaking of an image in a
mirror but a reflection of his or her spiritual life. Very much like the
prophet Isaiah’s reaction when he got a good look at himself: “Woe is me!
For I am undone” (6:5). It’s easy to drift downstream without taking time
to notice in which direction we’re heading, only to wake up one morning to
realize we aren’t at all where we wanted to be. And we ask ourselves, “What was
I thinking?”
That’s
just it; we probably weren’t thinking at all. You see, the Christian life
requires consideration. Not the feverish introspection of a neurotic, just
deliberate, thoughtful reflection. How important is the Word of God in my life?
Do I have a healthy aversion to sin? Am I maintaining fellowship with other
believers who encourage me in the things of the Lord? Am I under sound Bible
preaching? And, most important of all, is there a clear line open between
Heaven and me?
Even the Psalmist had to stop and think; and when he did, he says, he turned.
Ah, now that’s where the rubber meets the road. He turned his feet—not
just his heart—back to the Word of God. And in the next verse, he tells us he
didn’t let any grass grow under them before he did. “I made haste, and
delayed not to keep thy commandments.” Charles Spurgeon, commenting on
this verse, observes, “Action without thought is folly; thought without action
is sloth. To think carefully and act promptly is a happy combination.”
Make no mistake;
all through our Christian lives we will need to “think on our ways.”
Christianity is a thinking man’s (and woman’s) religion. It’s not lived on the
fly—or at least, not well. Take time to think; and when necessary, turn your
heart, and your feet, back to the testimonies of God.
The measure of our spiritual immaturity is
how long we stay out of fellowship.
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