“Goodness and grace will pursue me every day of my life; and I
will live in the house of Adonai for years and years to come.‘ (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (KJV)
This verse brings a smile to my face because I saw an
illustration of it once. I was young and thought it was irreverent but very
funny. The picture was of a man’s back and following behind him were three dogs
with names written on them: Surely, Goodness and Mercy. Looking at the
Thesaurus today, I found that many synonyms for “pursue” are: follow, chase,
hunt, trail, track, tail, shadow, dog and hound. Sounds like the illustration was right on the mark!
Think about it—maybe there aren’t dogs but there could be
lots of people following us or maybe there are those hunting for us like the
enemies from verse 5. I’m mulling over the idea that having a buffer of God’s
goodness and grace between me and those enemies would be extremely helpful. The
concept that any of the weapons they launch at me being required to pass
through God’s goodness and grace is definitely comforting to me.
Our enemies aren’t the only people following us; there are masses
of lost and searching people out there and some are attracted to the lovers of
God (that’s me). Hopefully, they see God’s goodness and grace following me, so
they want what I have! Sometimes my actions less like who I am striving emulate (that's Jesus) than I would like. In
spite of the stressful and insufficient attempts, others can still see Jesus in
us because there’s a trail that His goodness and grace leaves behind us; it’s
kind of like a “scent of His essence.” That’s because our life is not about us; it’s
all about Him!
The reason God’s goodness and grace follows us is not only that we
are lovers of God but because God lives within
us. 1 Corinthians 3:17 (b), “…For God’s temple is
holy, and you yourselves are that temple.” (CJB) Therefore, the second part of verse 6 is a declarative
statement of my intention to let myself be the “House of ADONAI (Lord/Master).”
And that’s not for just the remainder of my life, but for all eternity. Within me my God reigns forever! I will
serve Him with the goal of letting Him perfect His Kingdom in me and increase His Kingdom on Earth.
So, my interpretation of verse 6 is
this: “Because you live within me, the aroma of your
exceedingly great goodness and overwhelming grace is detected by those in
search of you. May your Presence in me, your abiding place, lead the ‘seekers’
to become ‘lovers’ of God.”
Ladying for today: “God-within-us
leaves a trail, a fragrance of His goodness and grace, that leads any who are
looking for Him to me—a point of contact to find Him. The challenge is to lead
others to become lovers of God also.”
Love this. The Lord has been showing me how to rest in His indwelling and telling me how my peace is powerful and effective
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! We are sharpening each other as He leads us into more of Him.
DeleteI love your post today Kay. It is full of faith, peace and truth. How we need to remember who we are and whose we are. Mike and I are learning to walk with these realities on a new level. God is SO GOOD!
ReplyDeletePsalm 23 is chock full of God's love. His goodness and mercy truly are ever with us. That ought to drive the enemy into the ditch. :). Much love my friend.
Thank you, Mary Ellen! As we pick up the nuggets of truth, we share them with others. You are such an encouragement to me. Bless you and Mike as you start again and anew. Love you lots!
ReplyDelete