To Encourage You

Psalm 103:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”

The Christian life is filled with opportunities to glorify God.  The fact that Jesus gave His life for us so that we can be forgiven of all our sins and live forever is an infinite grace that should elicit a gratitude that knows no bounds.  It’s this attitude that the psalmist expresses in the verse above.  The desire of his heart is to bless the Lord. 

But notice how he expresses that desire with the longing that “all that is within me, bless his holy name!”  The fact that this is possible opens the door to opportunities in every way, shape, and form.  Think of this term “all that is within me.”  It’s telling us that all that makes up who we are – physically, mentally, and spiritually – all of it, all that makes us human, can be an expression of blessing toward God.  The apostle Paul says essentially the same thing with these words from 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Eating and drinking – it’s something we do each and every day and multiple times each day. Everybody does this – rich and poor, black and white, young and old.  And so we should be aware that we have the opportunity in the most basic functions of life to either glorify God with how we do them – or not. 

C.H. Spurgeon expressed this thought with the following words from his sermon entitled “Five Fears”: “There is nothing in man that God has not there, which may not be employed in God’s service. Some may ask me whether anger can be brought in. I answer, yes. A good man may serve God by being angry against sin; and to be angry against sin is a high and holy thing. You may ask me, perhaps, whether ridicule can be employed. I answer, yes. I believe we may even rightly employ it in the preaching of God’s word. I know this, I always intend to use it; and if by a laugh I can make men see the folly of an error better than in any other way, they shall laugh, and laugh here, too; for ridicule is to be used in God’s service; and every power that God hath implanted in man—I will make no exception—may be used for God’s service, and for God’s honor.”

Isn’t that a wonderful thought?! Our emotions can be a means whereby we give God glory. Our possessions. Our thoughts. Our words. Our dress. Our friendships.  Our love for our spouse and children.  Our hobbies. All the parts of our body.  All the things that God selected for us when He knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).  And all the experiences of life to which God has sovereignly opened the door to be a part of our life, all of it can be used in some way or other to bring glory to Him.  It’s something we should think about. It’s something we should pray about.  And we should consider that it is this type of life that is a picture, however faintly, of heaven on earth – for in heaven every facet of our life will be an expression of glory to God.

So, when we pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” isn’t that what we’re saying? And while we may long for that Will to be seen in a nation, a community, or a family, the most obvious place any of us should desire to see an answer to that prayer is when we take a nice long look in the mirror.  May God help us to do so each and every day.