December 19, 2018 ● 18-11
Psalm 119:11: Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.
My Associate’s Degree is in Forestry Technology which simply means I was trained to work in the timber industry, specifically in cruising timber. Timber cruisers are contracted to walk a plot of land to determine how many board feet of timber and how many cords of pulpwood are on that plot so the owner can have an idea of how much to cut and thin. Part of timber cruising is learning how to read and follow a bearing on a compass. The compasses we were given looked like a cigarette lighter with an eyepiece on one end. We were taught to look through the eyepiece to get the bearing on the compass with one eye, and with the other eye to look ahead and get a fix on a tree or landmark that was on that bearing. As long as you walked toward that tree or landmark you were walking in a straight line on the correct bearing.
Jesus said that where our treasure was, our heart would be there too (Matt. 6:21). If I am treasuring God’s Word, then my heart will be turned and tuned to God’s Word. If my heart is tuned and turned to God’s Word, then my life will have the right orientation. Much like the compass we were trained to use, God’s Word gives us the bearing we need to walk the narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14). When we take our focus off God’s Word, we lose our bearing in life.
Psalm 119:9-16 gives us a clear path on how to avoid wandering in life:
TREASURE GOD’S WORD (vv. 11a)
MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD (v. 15a)
REVERE GOD’S WORD (v. 15b)
DELIGHT IN GOD’S WORD (v. 16a)
REMEMBER GOD’S WORD (v. 16a)
Let God’s Word equip you to have the right orientation in life.