We Press On

February 22, 2017

We Press On

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

Psalm 15:1

In many places in our culture, the church is going to great lengths to make herself relevant to the lives of the people. On first blush, this may seem like a noble pursuit; however, the underlying assumption is that the people themselves know what is truly relevant in their lives. I remember a young man who worked for me for several months before moving across the country to a new job. In leaving, he told me that when he first started working with me he was fresh out of a PhD program that had taught him the most important thing was to ask questions. He went on to say that he had learned from me that the most important thing was to ask the right questions.

This theme is repeated throughout the Bible. (For examples see Psalm 24:3, Luke 10:25, 18:18, John 6:28, Acts 2:37 Acts 16:30, and Acts 22:10) It is vitally important to know what questions to ask, and in Psalm 15 David asks the most important question, “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” The psalmist wants to abide, to dwell, which connotes a permanent relationship with God. The answer is those who worship God with the entirety of their lives. As you read the list the psalmist provides that describes what worshiping God looks like, remember as the followers of Christ, “. . . we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6). Living in the Spirit is abiding, dwelling in the presence of God.

Of course, like the Apostle Paul, we realize we have not already achieved perfection. But we press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed us. (Philippians 3:12) To this end, Psalm 15 is a reminder that we are in the process of becoming what we already are; that is, we are already the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are on a journey to make our right standing with God our way of life. Therefore our ambition, our goal, is to honor God with our lives because “such people will stand firm forever” (Psalm 15:5b).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.