by Kelly Dixon
Reading: Proverbs 30:5
On Saturday, March 20, I purchased impatiens and was determined to enhance the appearance of our front yard by planting them around the front of our house. This was a great task for me because I am known for my inattentiveness to flowers that leads to their demise. However, I was determined to do this and my daughters joined me in picking out just the right plants. On my way home, I called to recruit some help. Let me start by acknowledging that every good leader knows their weaknesses and they know when they need to ask for help. I certainly wanted to be a good leader at overcoming my plant planting weakness. So I called my father who can make a brown stick grow into a beautiful red rose. When he arrived, he assisted me and my daughters in planting the plants and we followed his instructions carefully as we wanted the plants to flourish. We fertilized, weeded and watered the plants throughout the next few weeks and they blossomed into beautiful colors. At the end of April we began to notice that a green vegetable-like plant began to grow in the midst of the impatiens. A week later, we came to the conclusion that it was a pumpkin plant growing from a seed that found its way down into the ground back in October from our fall decorating efforts. I just had to chuckle to myself as I thought, "I planted impatiens and got a pumpkin."
With this devotional, we will end our series on How to Delight in the Lord. I cannot think of a better way of ending a series then to encourage you to delight in the Lord by cultivating His Word in your heart. As Christians, God has something special planted in our hearts that He wants to bloom. That something special is the likeness of Jesus Christ. Many times we may begin to nurture our hearts with God's Word with the intent of having a certain outcome and before we know it we see that doing so has brought forth a Christ-like growth that we did not expect. However, we can rest assured that God expected it all along.
How do we cultivate God's Word in our hearts?
First, it takes determination. Just like I was determined to overcome my plant planting weakness, you must be determined that you will stay in the Word of God and allow His Word to nurture your heart.
Second, it takes action. If I had been determined to plant the impatiens, but I never went to the store to buy, plant, weed and water them, then they would have never flourished. You must take action in cultivating God's Word in your heart. Set aside a specific time each day to read His Word and stick to that time. Begin memorizing Scripture as a way of fellowshipping with the Lord.
Third, it takes help. Each time you begin to read and learn about God's Word ask for the Holy Spirit to guide you in your reading. Also, join other groups to study the Word of God together. Your Sunday School class at church or other Bible studies your church may offer is a good way to talk about God's Word and hear other people's thoughts in regards to His Word.
Fourth, expect new growth. Expect God to nurture His Word in your heart and bring forth Christ-like growth. Recognize that through His Word He will show you how you may have to give up your old selfish ways to be able to flourish.
Fifth, enjoy the fruit. As God's fruit of His Spirit begins to show through you, enjoy the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Resting in the Lord and allowing His fruit to work in and through your life is when we accomplish delighting in the Lord.
Finally, look towards the future. As God's Word convicts us, sometimes we get hung up in the guilt of the past. The Word of God will never stall you from going forward. Instead, the exact opposite will happen. God's Word will inspire you to move forward. As you come to the parts of His Word that convicts actions in your life, remember that as Christians Christ has paid the penalty for our sins. Therefore, we shouldn't sit in guilt of what we have done in the past but press forward. Paul says it best in Philippians 3:12-14,
"12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
We should always look towards our future in Christ and forget about our past triumphs and failures.
Delighting in the Lord is a life long experience that we can approach with great expectancy. As you do so, my prayer for you is that you remember the lessons we have learned in this series:
- Develop the Desire to Please God
- Rest in the Lord; Trust Him; be still and know that He is God
- Be faithful even when it gets tough
- Always approach God's throne with humility and allow Him to remove the things that have hardened your heart.
- Rejoice in the Valleys
- Fix your mind on praising God at all times.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to guide me in cultivating Your Word in my heart. Help me to do so and to expect new growth of Your Son's character in my life. Thank You Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins.
