Growing a personal relationship with God (Psalm 119:35) with a story about an actor and an old preacher.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 119:35 (TM)

Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love traveling this freeway!

STORY:

A British weekly tells of the meeting of an aged minister and a distinguished actor at a social gathering. When the actor was asked to give a reading, he repeated at the minister’s request the Twenty-third Psalm. Such was the beauty of his voice and the charm of manner that a murmur of praise ran around the room. Then he invited the minister to repeat the same psalm. When the old minister finished, all eyes were filled with tears, for he had spoken with deep tenderness and understanding. Said the actor: “I know that psalm, but you know the Shepherd.”

OBSERVATION:

Intimate knowledge grows out of a relationship. And so it was the reality in the old ministers life. He had spent his life traveling the freeway of life with the giver of the commandments. His life was built not on second-hand knowledge, but a willingness to allow God to guide him through the commandments of a spiritual life. Intimate knowledge grows out of a relationship.

Lent ought to bring us back into an intimate knowledge of God, into a deeper understanding of his word, into a grasp of his expectations (i.e. commandments) and into a personal relationship with him. Thus is the foundation for the traveling documents in life.

And so, our Lenten journey continues and our relationship with God deepens becoming more intimate with a more personal knowledge of the Shepherd.

PRAYER:

There is a quiet understanding that grows out of being still in your presence. Come and instruct us so that we might grow a deeper faith.