March 14, 2019
Psalm 73:23-26                            
Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.
New International Version (NIV)
               What’s the point of serving God?  Do you ever wonder?  When we look at the people who became the Judges of Israel we realize that they were often as evil as the people.  Knowing the Lord was the true ruler of Israel, Gideon refused to become King, but then made an idol for himself.  Abimelech killed his brothers.  Jephthah killed his own daughter.  True, they led the people to temporary safety and security but their own sins became their fatal flaws.  When they were finished, the Israelites returned to their sin again and were worse off than before.

                This Psalm of Asaph helps us.  It is the beginning of the third book of the Psalms.  When Asaph looks around he wonders why God allows the wicked to prosper.  Why has he worked so hard to love the Lord?  Has it all been in vain?  He almost became bitter.  Then came the turn, “Yet I am always with you . . . whom have I in heaven but you?  . . .  God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

                Do we love God for what he gives us here?  The great gift God gives is the gift of himself.  If God is our portion in life then we have everything we need.  The great anthem, “My Eternal King,” comes to the same conclusion.  Jane Marshall wrote, “E’en so I love Thee, and will love, And in Thy praise will sing; Solely because Thou art my God,  And my Eternal King.”
Pray with me:    
Father, say to our souls that you are our portion today.  If you are lot in life, then the boundary lines have truly fallen to us in pleasant places.  Take away all of our envy of others and replace it with deep contentment in Christ.  You are enough for us, and you always will be.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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