THE BEST PLACE TO BE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.

Psalm 84:10-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Life offers us lots of options as to where we can spend our time. For a majority of people, most of their time is spent in one of two places: at work or at home. There are some exceptions but for the most part, people typically fit into one of these two categories.

We are always abiding somewhere. That is for certain.  But who are we abiding with, that becomes the real question. Are we abiding with the world or are we abiding with the Lord? Are we living more in the worldly dimension in our lives than in the spiritual?

This is a question we need to carefully consider. For the world has a way of drawing is in with all its allures and trappings. We have more to choose from than we have time for and if we’re not careful, we’ll schedule and plan the Lord right out of our daily lives. In other words, we choose to live elsewhere than in the courts of the Lord.

It seems the problem of falling victim to the world’s seductions was not reserved for our present day. For as we look at the closing words of the 84th Psalm, we get a sense that the same exact problem existed in ancient Israel. Look at the words of the psalmist:

Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.

The psalmist came to learn that there was no better place to dwell than in the presence of the Lord Most High, a place where there was always light and warmth like the sun, protection and security as the Lord shields us from danger. Why would we want to reside anywhere else?

But there is more. The psalmist doesn’t simply stop here in illustrating the benefits of spending our time in the presence of the Lord. Look what else he highlights:

1. We gain favor and honor.

The Lord favors those who place their faith and trust in Him, honoring their faithfulness with His own in return.

2. We gain good things.

When we live in the Lord’s presence, we will walk in His ways. And when we walk in His ways, we will be living in the kind of righteousness He desires from us, walking as blamelessly as we can possibly walk in our humanity. Further, since God’s word is truth, then this word of the Lord from the psalm tells us that the Lord will withhold no good thing from the one who walks blamelessly. It makes sense. Walk in the ways of the Lord and you will experience the fullest measure of His goodness. Who wouldn’t want that?

3. We will be blessed.

Experiencing God’s goodness will just be a part of the blessings we experience when we place our faith and trust in Him and Him alone, choosing to reside in His presence and His courts every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Remaining in the Spirit of the Lord no matter where we are produces a rich abundance of blessed experiences as we watch His almighty power work in, through, and around us.

Friends, yes, the world offers us many places where we could choose to spend our time but we’ll never find a better location than living and abiding in the Lord. It’s where we’ll always find favor and honor, protection and security, goodness and grace, and the blessings that come from placing our full faith and trust in Him.

Live with the Lord every day. It has been, is, and will always be, the best place to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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