Today's Scripture Reading (October 17, 2025): Psalm 119:49-96
A good friend recently passed
away. She was a talented lady with a huge heart. She had worked most of her
life as a seamstress, and for over a decade served as the seamstress for the
local Professional Football (not soccer) team. Essentially, she sewed the names
and numbers on the jerseys, made minor repairs as needed, tailored the uniforms
to fit the various body shapes and sizes, and worked on other sewing projects
that arose from time to time for the team. At the service, I mentioned the
change she had made in me. I remembered watching a game and seeing a player,
wearing one of her jerseys, begin to run down the field. An opponent had tried
to make the tackle but had only grabbed a handful of jersey. As a result, the
uniform began to tear. My reaction, which would have usually been cheering the
player on toward the touchdown, was instead, "What are you doing to Judy's
uniform? She can't fix that."
My friend was a very creative
lady with a boisterous laugh. And from the moment that I heard she had passed,
it was a verse from Psalm 139 that made an impact on my memory of this
wonderful lady. "For you
created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). At
her memorial service, I remarked that the one who had knit her together, who
knew her the best, also loved her. And the one who knows us the best also loves
us. There is nothing that we need to do, or can do, to earn God's love. He loves
us anyway.
The
Psalmist reminds his readers that while there is nothing we have to do, that
doesn't mean there is nothing we might want to do. God formed us; he knit us
together. Because he is the Creator, he values his creation just as we value
the things that we create. So, it makes sense that if we want to make the most
of this life, it might be important to ask our Creator what it is that we
should do to make the most out of this existence.
However,
there is also a plea for understanding. It is easy to learn a list of rules,
the dos and don'ts of life. The Psalmist yearns for more; he seeks to
understand. I think the Psalmist is right. I need to know why God wants me to
live in a particular way, so it is not just a list of rules that I am learning.
If I understand why, then I can apply the principle to other situations. I keep
going back to the words of Jesus.
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang
on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).
For
me, that means that every action that the Creator of this life declares is
wrong is a violation of the Law of Love. If I desire to understand the commands
of the one who formed me, I must understand love. And every time I violate
love, I violate the instructions of the one who made me and formed me.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Psalm 119:97-144
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