Thought for the Day Monday 1 March

Thought for the day Monday March 1st 2021   Psalm 73:25-26 (New Living Translation)   Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.   Once again, I’ve taken the daily reading from the Bible Gateway website.  The last time I wrote one of these articles, I suggested that I’m sometimes guilty or other wise of overthinking.  Today, this made me think about the purpose of producing these thoughts.  I believe it is simply to take a piece of scripture and to offer some suggestions as to its meaning and relevance today.  It is also an opportunity to learn about the bible together and maybe encourage us to do something in our daily lives slightly differently.   In my bible it says at the beginning of chapter 73 that it is a psalm of Asaph and within the book of Psalms there are another eleven chapters where it says the same.  Asaph is identified with these twelve Psalms and is said to be the son of Berechiah who is said to be an ancestor of the Asaphites. The Asaphites were one of the guilds of musicians in the First Temple.   On initially looking at these two verses in isolation, I was struggling to get anything to write so then I read the whole chapter and it all became a bit clearer.  The writer says more or less that he was nearly at the stage of giving up on God.  This was due to envy of others that could be perceived as wicked or crooked or ungodly but despite this, appeared to enjoy the good things in this life.  Their bodies were healthy and strong and they didn’t seem to be weighed down with the problems that the rest of us experience.  In the new living translation, they are even described as ‘fat cats’ that have everything their hearts could ever wish for despite speaking evil and being prepared to crush others just to get what they want.   The writer feels the need to ask; ‘does God realise what’s going on?’ and then sets aside some time to listen to God and try to understand why people like this appear to prosper.  He is obviously led by God to consider the eventual destiny of these people that seem to have it all and this is quite poetically described in the following way: ‘Their present life is only a dream that is gone when they awake.  When you arise, O Lord, you will make them vanish from this life.’  He realises that his envy had left him feeling foolish and bitter.  Despite the trials of this life, heaven awaits for those who stick with God because the trials are temporary but the reward is everlasting.    Prayer. Heavenly Father, help us not to be envious of others who have more material things than us in this life and help us to be ever thankful of the promise of being with you in life eternal, a promise that only you can deliver if we hold to you despite the distractions and temptations of this world in which we live. Amen