Just a quick thought . . .

As we continue to 'walk through the Bible', a quick reminder that you can find today's daily lectionary passages here:http://gamc.pcusa.org/devotion/daily/2010/8/26/
So, I wasn't planning on posting anything today - as my plan and commitment is to posting each weekday, but as I was reading the lectionary passages for today something stuck in my brain.  It has now been there all day.  I'm still up, so I thought I would share it with you.
Surprise, Surprise, it comes from the Psalms.
So, in verses 5 & 6 of Psalm 63 it says this:  
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
        and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
  when I think of you on my bed,
        and meditate on you in the watches of the night

I think one of the things that many of us struggle with - and one of the reasons that disciplines like prayer and daily devotions are so difficult is because we often feel this distance from God, even in the midst of prayer or devotions.  So we end up walking through our days, not spending any (or very little) time in conversation with God or thinking about God or God's word, and then we wonder why God seems distant and we wonder why we aren't moved by God.  

The psalmist writes 'my soul is satisfied . . . as with a rich feast . . . my mouth praises you with joyful lips . . . blah, blah, blah.  It is this kind of stuff that turns me off from the psalms, because I can't relate to it.  My soul doesn't often feel satisfied.  My lips aren't always filled with joy when I am saying praise to God.  

But I think I am missing the point.  The psalmist continues that those things (the satisfaction of the soul & the joy) WHEN 'I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night'.

Connection to God, joy and satisfaction that are found in God are not random haphazard occurrences, but rather the direct result of time spent in relationship with God:  thinking about God and God's word, in conversation with God through prayer and dwelling on the word of God and the Spirit of God present and active in your life. 

These are the ways that we let God into our lives . . .Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God are quite literally standing at the door of our lives . . . are we going to let them in.  

chip