Today’s reading

Psalms 103-104; Romans 14

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 

Psalm 104:33

The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. Romans 14:6-7

Reflections

For the believer, there is one clear lasting purpose around which everything revolves, to honor the Lord in life and in death.  Circumstances change; that purpose never does.

The Psalmist’s heart overflows in praise to God. God is due all honor for His being, His attributes, and His endless acts of kindness and love to His people.  There is not enough time or words to express it all.  As Fredrick Lehman put it in his hymn “The Love of God:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.   

Paul addresses matters that were apparently causing divisions between believers in Rome: the keeping of Jewish feast days, and the eating of meat previously offered to idols.  The Apostle points all of his readers to a place of common ground.  They are all concerned about honoring the Lord, or, at least, they should be.  That is the purpose of their lives.  They have been redeemed to glorify God.  The kingdom to which they have been called is not about what you eat but about “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (vs. 17).

Think about it

Are you focused on what really matters, honoring God?  We, who trust in Jesus Christ, can certainly agree that what matters most is His glory in and through our lives until He calls us home.  That will help us get along even when we don’t see eye to eye with each other on minor points. Let His glory keep you profitably occupied all the days of your life.

© 2017 John A Carroll  Used by permission