The Lamp Unto My Feet

Some of the Scripture verses/passages I need to remember/am going to meditate on this week (all are from the KJV):

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk but not faint." -Isaiah 40:31

"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. / But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, / Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; / Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" -Titus 3:3-6

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? / For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Just some initial thoughts, even though the new week is still to come:

- I don't want to give the impression that I am taking the passage from Titus out of context. Verses 1-2 read "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. / To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." I think the message here is to work as approved before the Lord, and not to have an overly critical attitude toward others, staring them down for their weaknesses. The reason is simple: we were at one time sinners, equally in need of a Savior as those who so desperately need Him now. And, of course, we are still sinners, but have been redeemed. Not because we were inherently better than the people who have not yet responded to the Gospel, but because of the work of Jesus at Calvary. God had mercy on our souls.

This is something of which I continually need to remind myself. Beginning in high school, and continuing today, I struggle with the attitude of "forget them all." My (misguided) instinct is to watch out just for myself and the people I love, while turning my back to the sinners all around. But nothing could be further from the attitude of Christ.

My prayer this week is that I start to grow more tolerant of the people around me. Not just my classmates, but the imperfections of the average person I encounter every day-the reckless driver who cuts me off in traffic, or the people who make too much noise on High Street at night. I know that patience is not my strongest personality trait-but it is surfacing more often, day by day. Every time I hold my tongue in traffic, or remain calm at the trivial annoyances of others, I count this a small spiritual victory.

- Waiting upon the Lord is starting to come a little easier too. It used to be that I had to have what I wanted, when I wanted it, all the time. I still struggle with this sometimes, but it is waning as I get older. I have come to realize a simple truth: all my complaining, hand-wringing, and doubting is not going to move mountains, add an hour to my life (which I could really use right now, by the way), or do anything else to accomplish the Lord's work. I know now that I am better off putting that energy into dealing with the problem, thus using it constructively.

Lately, I have begun putting my entire future in God's hands. I have pretty much thrown out "the script," a plan for my life I formulated in high school, and replaced it with a desire to move in the direction God wants me to go. Of course, I still make general plans, and still have an idea of what I want to do after I graduate, for example. But my plans now include the one ingredient that was missing before-flexibility. Ultimately, I am not the one in charge. The challenge I face as a Christian is to keep growing and making progress, and learning to accept that I am guided by the One who holds time itself in His hands.

- Finally, I want this week to be a time where I take better care of myself. In law school, it is easy to fall behind on things like sleep, exercise, and good eating habits if you're not careful. In the haste of keeping up with my commitments, I sometimes forget these basics, and my health and well-being sometimes suffers as a result. Part of being a mature Christian (and a legal professional) is maintaining my body as a well-oiled machine for God's work. Starting this week, I am going to get back on track, by eating better, losing some excess weight, and getting plenty of sleep.