Rooted and Grounded

Have you ever read a passage of scripture and pictured your self in the scene.  I came across a couple of verses in 1 Chronicles, and I could almost hear King David saying:

“Is not the LORD your God with?  And has He not given you rest on every side?  For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and before His people.  Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God.” 1 Chron. 22:18-19a

By inserting myself into the scene, I feel the strength of my King (David) giving me as part of his speech about all that he had done to prepare for the building of the temple, some very important insights about God.  For example:

• God is with me.  I know this from other scriptures such as Deut. 31:6, 8 and Heb. 13:5 (God saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”)

• God has given me rest on every side. David is talking about his Kingdom and rest from enemies coming against him, but the same is true for me.  Jesus promised me in Matt. 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

• God has given the “inhabitants of the land” into my hand and the land is subdued before the LORD and His people. In the case of King David, the inhabitants of the land were those groups that lived in areas that Israel was occupying which God had promised to them.  The same promises are extended to me.   God wants me to possess my possessions, the spiritual “land” He has given to me.  This includes my walk with Him – He promises to give me victory over sin and self.  He promises that I am His child and that He has given me all that pertains to life and godliness.  He has promised that salvation is available to “whosoever believes”, so I can walk in the confidence and assurance of my salvation.  I have no enemy which is stronger than me when I am standing with Jesus, and nothing exists in this realm or any other that can separate me from the love of my Savior.  That is certainly evidence that God has given “the inhabitants of the land” into my hand by the power of His spirit and the blood shed on Calvary.

With those things established, David exhorts me to set my heart and my soul to seek the LORD my God.  For King David and the people in that audience, he was exhorting them to build the sanctuary of the LORD, but the exhortation can apply today as well.  Knowing what I know about God, namely He is with me, He has given me rest on every side (despite what it might look like), and He has given the inhabitants of the land (the enemies and problems that vex me) into my hand, I can stop wasting time worrying, fighting, striving or whatever it is that I do instead of what I should be doing.  I can stop doing those things and do the one thing that is needful, set my heart and soul to seek the LORD my God. What could be better than that?  Imagine the fruit that could come out of a life fully set on and seeking the LORD.

May the LORD show you who He is and what He has already accomplished on your behalf that you might set your heart and soul to seek Him.  For He has promised that if you seek Him, He will be found by you.

God Bless you!