Start with God

Psalm 1

How well God must like you -
you don't hang out at Sin Saloon,
you don't slink along Dead-End Road,
you don't go to Smart-Mouth College.

Instead you thrill to God's Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You're a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.

You're not at all like the wicked,
who are mere windblown dust -
Without defense in court,
unfit company for innocent people.

God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.

Psalm 1 is the beginning of this collection of prayers and songs. This is the beginning of the New Year. This Psalm says there is a difference between beginning with God and not. It is the difference between life and death.

People say they want the true life offered in God's word. We will make resolutions this week and keep them at least through next week. But that's not the life that is offered here. The Psalmist goes back to Eden, where the relationship between God and people was perfect. The life that lived was a oneness, an intimacy with God.

Eden and Skid Row are far apart. Monthly fruit production and constant bloom are far from windblown dust. For most of us, we are some where in between. In between is not what God wants, it is not what we long for, but it is where we usually are.

It all begins with God - thrilling in God's word, chewing on it day and night.