Day 6: The life that is truly life
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for He grants sleep to those He loves (Psalm 127:1-2).
Our Father, You alone are God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of all. You designed us fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14) with eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
You established Your law, “I am the Lord your God… You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2-3). And You gave us the clear priority to seek first [the] kingdom [of God] and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
We see the evidence all around us—sometimes even in our own lives—of distorted priorities and uneven measures; in our rushed and restless world, we bear the marks and the consequences of imbalance, and fatigue, and burnout.
Without the boundaries and safeguards You have placed around our approach to our activities and work, and life, we end up with the bitter experience The Teacher describes: What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23).
Except we follow the priorities You have designed, our human plans are futile (Psalm 94:11)—Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling... (Psalm 127:1-2).
Help us O Lord, to build only on the foundation You have established. Our homes, our families, our organizations, our churches, our communities, our systems, our governments will surely topple unless the Lord, builds, and watches, and secures, and maintains.
Help us to put first things first—to invest in lasting value by seeking first Your kingdom. Help us not to lose perspective as Your people did, when You challenged them, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while [God's] house remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:4)
Turn our eyes away from worthless things (Psalm 119:37). We are warned in Your word, Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle (Proverbs 23:5).
By Your great providence, You richly provide us with everything for our enjoyment. But You warn those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God... (1 Timothy 6:17).
Make us mindful of the instruction for believers given to Timothy by the apostle Paul: Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy 6:18-19).
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