ESSENTIALS

What in life truly matters? Imagine if God placed you in a huge glass pot in the middle of a giant plaza where hundreds of thousands of people walk by you. He turns a dial that sets in motion transforming heat from coils underneath the container on which you stand. All that you have and represent on earth, as a Christian, is about to be melted down into the pure essentials which define and determine your worth. What crystalline object will the world see? All you have lived for and what characterizes you is about to emerge in some distinctive shape .

Meditation

Psalm 45:4—In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.

Psalm 45 is a wedding song composed by the Sons of Korah for a king on his wedding day. The words in the meditation above leaped from the pages of my Bible and grabbed my heart. They contain profound truth for us. The writer is telling us what the three champion causes are for a victorious, majestic king—truth, humility and righteousness. These are the essentials.

TRUTH—Those without truth crumble against the incessant rain of scrutiny. Truth protects us, allows us to sleep peacefully, builds confidence, and lights the path upon which we walk toward heaven. Truth is the breath of God and the mark of godly character.

HUMILITY—Jesus, the King of all Kings, humbled Himself and became a man. Humility is the fragrance of love and the mark of a godly attitude. It values the concerns of others and deftly dims the incessant, inner cry of “feed me!” Humility is attractive, refreshing and peace-promoting.

RIGHTEOUSNESS—When we do the right thing we prosper. When sin is allowed to flourish we flounder and fail. It is far wiser to engage in God-honoring conduct than to feed our lusts only to reap what will surely rot. Righteousness is the touch of Deity and the mark of godly conduct.

What are your essentials?

Inspiration

The revelation given by Jesus Christ of God is not the revelation of Almighty God, but of the essential nature of deity—unutterable humility and moral purity, utterly worthy in every detail of actual life. In the Incarnate God proves Himself worthy in the sphere in which we live, and this is the sphere of the revelation of the self-giving of God.—Oswald Chambers in Baffled to Fight Better