GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
PSALM 23:6
6 Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.
I worked at a McDonald’s restaurant in my hometown for more than eight years. For part of that time, I didn’t have a car, and I had to ride a bicycle the three miles out to the store from my home. It’s a beautiful country ride — except at a long (¾ mile) straightaway where the road passes a house that was patrolled by large guard dogs — Dobermans. Two of those dogs used to chase me, twice a day, every day, for more than a year.
David takes that picture of being chased and he lets us know that we really are being chased, pursued, all the days of our lives. We are being pursued by God’s goodness and his love.
A few years after the dog-chasing time (that is, the time when I was chased), I was working in the family business as a housepainter. Guess what house we pulled up to one day. As we unloaded ladders and drop cloths, I met one of those same dogs (the other was gone) — and although she didn’t exactly roll over so I could rub her belly, I did scratch her behind the ears and made a friend.
There are times when we need to stop running away from God’s goodness and love and let them catch us (does anybody remember Mayday baskets?).
The blessings God has for us are with us all the time — sometimes they need to bark at us to get our attention. But they’re nothing to fear. The cross of Jesus Christ itself can be a scary thing to someone who’s never heard the story behind it. But once we’ve heard the message, it’s the finest companion we could hope to have.
The price Jesus paid on the cross assures us of the truth David ends his Psalm with:
I will dwell in the house of the Lord — forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota