IN THE BEGINNING (of 2016) Devotion

IN THE BEGINNING (of 2016)
Each year is an opportunity for new beginnings and a fresh start. But then so is each week. Every Sunday is the first day of the week – a new beginning. Actually, every day is an opportunity for a new beginning: God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23).
The first three words in the Bible are, ‘In the beginning …’ (Genesis 1:1). 
Read Psalm 1:1-4 (at the bottom)
- RESOLVE to ‘delight’ in the Bible
If you are beginning the challenge to read the ‘Bible in one year’, this psalm has encouraging words for you.
Make a regular habit of spending time with God, delighting, desiring and meditating on his words.
The promise is that if you ‘thrill to God’s Word’ and ‘chew on Scripture day and night’ (v.2, MSG), your life will be blessed. Happiness comes from what happens to you. Blessing is what happens to you through knowing God and meditating on his words.
God promises you fruitfulness (‘which yields its fruit in season’, v.3b), vitality (‘whose leaves do not wither’, v.3c) and prosperity (v.3d, not necessarily material prosperity!). This message is reinforced by a glance across at the ultimate fate of ‘the wicked’. The psalmist does not try and pretend that the wicked don’t sometimes prosper. He simply reminds us of the transitory nature of that prosperity – ‘they are like chaff that the wind blows away…[they] will perish’ (vv.4,6).
The key to lasting – and ultimately eternal – fruitfulness and vitality lies in your relationship with God. If you seek to follow ‘the way of the righteous’ that this psalm talks about, you are assured that the Lord himself will watch over you (v.6).
- PRAYER - Lord, thank you for your wonderful promises as we resolve to delight in your word and meditate on it. Thank you that you promise us blessing, fruitfulness, vitality, prosperity and your watchful eye upon us. Help us to keep persevering in seeking you through your word.