July 6 - Run on the Path

Read Psalm 119:25-32
Context: Day 4 of psalm
Daleth
25 I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
26 I recounted my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
27 Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me through your law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
31 I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free. (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Read the last verse again...God's commands have set our hearts free? When I reflect on the freedom I have in Christ, I imagine judgment day and how he will stand before me to take my punishment.

But thinking about it, God's commands CAN provide freedom too. Not from a perspective of having to follow each 'jot and tittle', but as divine guidance. God's commands, such as 'love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul' and 'love your neighbor as yourself' give us a tangible picture of the straight and narrow path God wants us to walk. We are incapable of being 'good enough' to get to heaven, but by making the choices God wants us to make as often as our worldly flesh will allow we are living the life that frees us from the shackles of sin.

Then we can run along that path with joy!