The Blessings

    Bribery seems to work well with your children.  There have been a number of times where I was bribed to be good.  My Mother never seemed to use that method with me.  Maybe because it was that we never had any cookies or cakes to use as a bribe.  I do recall some people, I won't say whom, who said that if I didn't eat my carrots I would not get any cake.  That, I assume, would be classified as a bribe.  We sometimes speak of dangling a carrot in front of a horse in order to get it to move.  That also would be considered to be a bribe in some sense.  God has given us a number of things in Psalm 37 that offer rewards as a result of doing something in our lives.  they are not always easy to do but God has given us some special rewards for doing them.  Psalm 37:3-8 says, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.   Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.   Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.   And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.   Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil."
       The passage for today is a tad longer than most but has a series of things that when we do those things, we have a corresponding result.  The first one mentioned is to trust in the Lord and then we shall dwell in the land and be fed.   The second one is to delight in the LORD and and He shall give us the desires of our heart.  The list goes on and includs Committing ourselves to the Lord and then to rest in the Lord.   Trusting, Committing, Delighting and Resting and finally, Ceasing from anger.  Wow, what a list but everyone of them has a special blessing after it.  Personally, I have always enjoyed the one that says if we delight in the LORD, He will give us the desires of our heart.  I used to think that might include a new car or a new house, or even a new suit of clothes but what is meant is that he gives us new desires.  Once you become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you begin to have new desires.  You should find that you now have a desire to read God's Word more and to pray more and to desire that men and women become saved and to grow in the LORD.  These are all "new desires."  This list is a mere instruction that reminds us that if we find ourselves doing them, we will have certain blessings that follow.  So, trust, delight, commit, and rest in the LORD.  Praise God that He provides wonderful blessings in our lives.