Theme of the Week: Prayer
Bible Verse: “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight”. Psalm 119:35
Scripture Reading: Psalm 119
A few years ago, my sister and I went hiking for several days in the White Mountains. The morning we left our hut to climb Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the range, the weather (as it often is on Mt. Washington) was awful. Even it though it was June, the temperature was just above freezing, the mountain was thick with fog, and blinding, icy rain bit into our faces and hands. As we ascended, the rain and fog intensified, and my sister and I had an increasingly difficult time following the cairns that marked the path. Then, we lost the path completely.
Dozens of hikers have died on Mt. Washington from hypothermia, and as my sister and I wandered, wet and shivering, over the rocky terrain, we became frantic that we could join their number. You can imagine our incredible relief, when we spotted through the rain and fog two hikers. My sister and I waved and shouted at them, and they yelled back, “Follow us!” These two men—Bill and Ed, we found out later—led us all the way up the path to the mountaintop lodge.
In Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis writes that God’s commands have “truth, intrinsic validity, rockbottom reality, being rooted in His own nature, and are therefore as solid as that Nature which He has created.” They are the only way up the mountain. Therefore, it is a relief—a “delight,” as the psalmist says—to find God’s commands, especially when we’ve spent any amount of time wandering from the path.
Jesus is the only one who has walked God’s path perfectly. But He forgives us when we wander off the path, and like Bill and Ed did for my sister and me, Jesus beckons us to follow Him. One of the most important things we can pray is for God to direct us in the path of His commands, for there we find delight.
Prayer: God, by your Holy Spirit, empower me to walk the path of your commands today.
Reflection: The path of God’s commands leads to life—where have you seen this truth in your own experience?
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