Making the Main Thing the Main Thing

UV 2034/10000 Making the Main Thing the Main
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 9 v 24

AS human beings we tend to boast about the things we delight in or the things that bring greatest joy to our lives. The Word exhorts mankind not to delight in knowledge, wisdom, strength, beauty, pleasure or riches. Instead, we should delight in the fact that we have been given the grace and privilege of understanding who God is and knowing Him personally. All the former pursuits are but in vain but when we have a personal relationship with the Lord, even these things take on a new meaning and purpose. We need to recall the acts of love, mercy and righteousness, the Lord has executed in the world and in our personal lives. When we delight in His love, mercy, justice and righteousness, we discover and experience the joy of the Lord which becomes our new source of strength, power, wisdom, grace.

Suffice it to say that a personal or intimate relationship with the Lord is of far greater and eternal value than temporal riches, health, strength or power. That relationship then becomes the source of our knowledge, wisdom, power, strength and riches. We do not and cannot know the Lord fully but Jesus reveals to us the nature and heart of the Father as well as the Holy Spirit. Only the Son knows the Father and to those to whom the Son reveals the truth. We need to exult or rejoice in the love, mercy, justice and righteousness of Jesus. As we reflect and realize the extent of the agape or unconditional love of the Father, we experience a genuine awe or respect or reverence for His kind of love. That respect itself will create a heart of wisdom in us. As we meditate on His justice and righteousness, we get trained in righteousness. IF these three traits of the Lord, His love and mercy, His justice and His righteousness become our main pursuits, then none of the things we attempt or do in life would be vain. It would no longer be an empty boast but a real experience with repercussions on eternity. The use of the three words, “ in the earth” implies that the Lord exercises or manifests these three traits in real time in our real life situations and experiences of life. We need to reflect on these traits of the Lord and their manifestations in our personal lives at present and in the past.

The greatest glory is to know the Lord and to adore and imitate His character. As we do so, our lives will be filled with grace and peace. A personal relationship with the Lord is the source of all our blessings and victory in life. We can even be successful in some aspects of our lives on our own but we cannot be victorious in all aspects without knowing the Lord personally. When we get to know the Lord personally, we have access to all the resources and power of the kingdom of God. It takes more than a lifetime to fully know the Lord but even His image or reflection or shadow on our lives has a substantive impact and influence on all aspects of our lives. It will also reduce or remove a lot of the unnecessary pain we inflict on ourselves through our lives.

Prateep V Philip