Psalm 119:111 Your statutes are my heritage forever;
    they are the joy of my heart.

When I got to this reading my eyes went immediately to verse 105, because it is so familiar and so important for daily living, daily walking with God. However, reading on down, I really resonated with this verse. We don’t choose what our parents amass to pass on to us, and I feel incredibly privileged and blessed that my parents passed on to me a love for God and His Word that will stand me well for all eternity. I did have to be intentional in personal repentance and obedience, but I think few people have as clear a path to discipleship as I was given, even from birth. My parents recorded that at age 5, I came to my mother and said, “Mommy, I really, really love you, but I don’t love you nearly as much as I love Jesus.” Without question, that was because of the spiritual heritage my parents passed on to me. I wish I could say that I’ve always been a good steward of that heritage, but that would hardly be honest. Even so, I can’t really imagine what it would be like not to walk with the awareness of my Creator and hear Him speak to me daily as I read His Word. That gives me all the less excuses for my lapses! The two unique things about such a heritage are, first of all, that it is eternal, just as this verse says. “You can’t take it with you” doesn’t apply here! The second thing is that the more I share it with others, the richer my own store grows! I love to share God’s truth with people, telling them of His grace and love, as well as His holiness and righteousness. I wish that more people would accept it for themselves more readily, but I have to leave that in God’s hands. After all, I can’t save anyone!

I just realized that I have been writing from a very personal perspective, when the “Observation” portion of this devotional scheme is usually much more general. I guess that’s not surprising, since the author of this Psalm was intensely personal throughout. It does no good to treat the Bible as imply objective truth, without applying it personally. Like James said, that’s just deceiving ourselves. (James 1:22) My various lapses, as I’ve mentioned, have all come from the failure to apply the truth I’ve known to the situation I was in. I must not do that! God’s truth is true all the time, and if I act like it’s not, I’m walking in darkness (to go back to verse 105).

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that we’re safely home from our trip to Osaka and Yokohama. Thank You for the various things You enabled us to get done yesterday, catching up after having been away. Thank You for the cold I seem to have brought home, and that it didn’t manifest before yesterday. I ask for wisdom in cooperating with Your healing, and also in not passing this around needlessly. I’ll need to drive Cathy to the dentist this morning and to her PD doctor this afternoon. If I’m simply to stay in the car at both places, give us both peace about that. I do ask for clear guidance in my message preparation for Sunday, that the sheep may feed on what You know they need, to build them up as Your disciples for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!