Which way are you walking?

 Psalm 1:1–6 (ESV): 

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

2  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

4  The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 

6  for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

In this Psalm God promises that however you choose to live your life there will be consequences; He will bless, provide for, sustain and strengthen the way of the righteous. He will not support, promote, or be present with those that take no interest in following Him, take part in evil or mock others. 

Which way are you walking?

Are you living life, ‘in the counsel of the wicked’ or delighting In God’s words? These are the two ways you can walk through life. You either choose to live as a righteous person who actively follows God, or you follow your own desires and are influenced by others - this what David refers to as, 'the way of the wicked'. If you are not someone who loves God’s word, considers it and applies it to life, then we see from this psalm that you are considered as going 'the way of the wicked'. Not because you are not a nice person, but because you have not made knowing God and living His way important in your life. Therefore your decisions and actions are not God-centred, but self-centred and this can end up in all sorts of chaos and disruption. If you’re reading this today and you know that you are not dedicating your life to God but others things, then know that God sees it and He does not want you to continue living this way. That's why psalms like this were written - to show that there is another way of life available. A life where you can live alongside God knowing His blessing and becoming righteous. Would you like to walk into that way of life?

The life lived with God is described as, ‘a tree planted by streams of water’. Well nourished, strong, secure, patiently growing over time, and will ‘in its season’ bear fruit. A righteous life following God will one day be shown for what it is. The patient endurance and dedicated application of God’s word to life will be seen one day as good and profitable, of use and beautiful. A tree slowly growing by a stream may seem like a long boring existence as it takes years to grow and develop, but it will grow. It always has nourishment, it will not grow fast and weak, but slow and strong. Take comfort today if you are walking this way, the way of faith. You may not see the benefit straight away, or even recognise that you are growing or changing much, but one day your dedication and love for God will be seen as good and fruitful. If you keep going, settling by the stream, absorbing God's words, nourished by His Holy Spirit, then you will grow into a strong, beautiful, fruitful tree.

How different to the image of the, ‘chaff that the wind drives away.’ This is the result and expectation of the way of the wicked that do not follow God. They are like worthless husks, the leftovers of threshing that have no use and are not even thrown away, but left to the will of the wind that takes them wherever it wants. Those that live life without acknowledging God are like that. One day their prosperity and apparent success will be shown for what it is; temporal, ungrounded, rubbish. A life not founded on God is not founded on anything substantial as its values can change like the direction of the wind. A life like that can be whisked away in a moment. A tree by a stream has deep roots that keep it grounded and secure when the wind or even storms come, chaff has no such security. Dependency on God is a strength that nothing else in the world can match. 

Which way are you walking?