#DailyDevotion As A Christian, What Do You Want?
Psalm 73 24You will guide me with Your advice and finally take me to glory.
Despite our misgivings with life under the cross and being jealous at times of those who live a theology of glory which we know is deceptive we place our hope and faith in God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ. We trust Jesus’ promise of receiving the Holy Spirit who instructs our hearts and guides us through the Word which we have received.
The Holy Spirit is our guarantee given us in baptism of eternal life. He gives us eternal life now and is our deposit from Jesus of being taken into glory on the Last Day. He testifies to our spirit we are children of God.
25Who is mine in heaven? Having You, I don’t want anything else on earth. 26My flesh and my heart waste away, but God is the Rock my mind rests on and my inheritance forever.
When we seem to lack everything else in this life and despair of all good things, this comforts and strengthens our hearts: God the Father is ours in heaven. If we have God through faith in Jesus Christ, why would we want or need anything else on earth? We have the Father and we have the Son. They have given us the Holy Spirit who dwells in our heart. This body of flesh and heart wasted away along with all material goods in the world. We should not set our hearts on the things of the world.
Jesus tells us set our hearts on things above. There rust and moth cannot destroy. Paul writes in Eph. 1, “13When you heard the message of the truth, the good news that you were saved, and you believed in Him, you, too, were sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit — Whom He promised 14and Who is now the Guarantee of our inheritance — that He might free you to be His people and to praise His glory.” In Col. 1 and 3 he writes, “11We ask Him according to His wonderful might to strengthen you with all the power you need to endure patiently whatever comes as you joyfully 12thank the Father, Who made you fit to share the inheritance of the holy people in the light.” “24because you know the Lord will give you the inheritance as your reward.” Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, “Who by raising Jesus Christ from the dead has in His great mercy given us a new birth so that we have a living hope 4for an inheritance that isn’t destroyed or defiled and never fades away, as it is kept for you in heaven.” This inheritance is God Himself, our Rock and Redeemer whom our mind rest on, especially when it seems we lack any good thing in this life. But even if God gives us an abundance of good things, we do not set our heart on them because we know they are transient. They are to be used to glorify God and our LORD Jesus Christ.
27Those who wander far from You are lost; You destroy all who go lusting away from You. 28So it is best for me to come close to God. I’ve made You, O Lord GOD, my Shelter; so I can talk of everything You’ve done.
Those who don’t make God their chief possession of hope and joy are lost. God will destroy all who go lusting away from God and make creation their idol in whom they trust. It is best for us to draw near to God and make Him our Shelter, the Giver of all good gifts. When God is our chief possession, when we make Him our God, the source of all good things, we can then talk of all the good things God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Let us praise Him for all good gifts that come our way and for the glory of the inheritance we have with Him in the world to come.
Heavenly Father, apart from You we have no good things. Grant us faith to receive You as our inheritance as we are co-heirs with Christ so we may not despair of lacking any good thing in this transitory life we live. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.