How To Be Blessed
How would you answer the question, “Do you want to live a blessed life?” I think most, if not all people, would answer that quickly with, “YES!” We all want to lead lives that are blessed. We may define the term blessed differently, but the reality is that every human being wants to live a blessed life.
How does one live a blessed life? The world offers thousands of options and ideas for you and I to pursue.
- Keeping working for the next promotion and more money – that will lead to greater financial security, more options of things to buy, and in the end that will lead to you living a ‘blessed’ life.
- Live your truth. The only way you can be happy is to define what happiness is for you and then chase that definition. Then you will feel ‘blessed’.
But what happens when the money disappears, or when the truth you defined for yourself no longer brings the joy and satisfaction it once did? What made you happy and feeling blessed yesterday may not give that same joy tomorrow.
Psalm one tells us how to live a truly blessed, or happy, life. Verse one gives us the negative – how NOT to be blessed:
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.
Don’t walk, stand, or sit in sin. This is all encompassing – no matter what you are doing and where you find yourself, whether walking, standing, or sitting, flee from sin. Notice the progression in verse one:
- Don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked – don’t accept the advice from the world about how to be blessed
- Don’t stand in the way of sinners – Don’t be party to or join the world in mis defining happiness and chasing the lie
- Don’t sit in the seat of scoffers – Don’t then adopt the world’s attitudes as your own. The word ‘scoffers’ refers to those that would then be the farthest from repentance.
In verse two we get the positive. If the world has no answer to true happiness, where do we find it?
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night
The blessed man or woman finds delight in the law of God. The word ‘law’ is an all- encompassing word that basically means direction or instruction. The blessed man finds direction from the Word of God. He looks to it and lets it define blessedness and happiness for him.
Notice the progression there as well. The blessed person doesn’t simply look at the Word; rather they meditate on it. They read it; they memorize it; they cherish it; they dwell on it. To meditate on something is to have it at the forefront of your mind all day and all night.
Psalm one is developing this theme: Whatever really shapes a person’s thinking shapes their life.
As we begin this week, what is shaping your thinking? What are you meditating on? Is it what the world tells you brings happiness, or is the Word?
The psalm ends very clearly – the one who meditates on the Word will produce fruit, and the fruit that is produced will last. It won’t wither away. The joy that comes from Christ and His Word is everlasting joy. Those who look to the world will not stand in the judgment and will not be with the righteous at the end of their days.
Whatever shapes your thinking will shape your life. Let’s set our minds on heavenly things, where Christ is – this leads to true joy, true happiness, and a blessed life.