Fools

The 14th Psalm begins with the words of fools.  "There is no God,"  they say.  It set me to wondering what God must think about me when He looks down from heaven to the place where I walk my journey.   When I look back and see myself in my memory, I often want to apply that word to myself.  While I have not been one to speak and say, "There is no God," there have been many times that my actions have been those of a man who surely does not believe God exists.  Some of those remembered moments are the times I turned ministry into some kind of competition instead of a life of service, the times my priorities got misplaced and sent me off on roads built with self-centeredness, and the times my worship was focused too much on things than the God who provides the things.  In those moments God must have surely looked upon me and thought, "Fool!"  If He did not, He should have.

 

But, what is past is past and what is present is now.  Little can I do about the past when compared to my options about the present and the future.  Choosing wrong roads yesterday is no excuse or reason for choosing them today.  Surely, if there is any wisdom in the world it is found in living smarter, living more sensibly, living more faithfully than yesterday. The Psalmist does not say that God looks down from heaven to see who lives as a fool, but to see who it is that is wise and is expressing that wisdom by going after God.  (Ps. 142)

 

I would like to be seen in that crowd.  I would like for God to look toward the place where He has put me and see one who is seeking Him.  I would like for Him to look at me and speak to angels beside Him saying, "There is a wise man."  I would like to think after receiving so much mercy and so many "start overs" that I am a wiser man and not as prone to living with the kind of foolishness which seems so evident in my memories of myself.  Maybe there is hope for this one who like the song says, "is prone to wander...prone to leave the God I love."   Ah, there is hope, but not because of my intentions, but because of God's continued mercy and grace.  Count me as one who needs mercy and grace abundantly.