THE PATH TO PROSPERITY

Read Psalm 1

As we embark on a new year, do we desire God to prosper us?  By that, I do not mean a spirit of greed and covetousness, but wanting to be all God designs for us and to have all that God desires for us.  The Psalmist shows the way.

There is the POSITION of one God prospers (v.1).  It is stated in the negative.  

God blesses the one who refuses to stride with the ungodly.  He or she chooses to march to the beat of a different drum.  Our counsel comes from saints and not sinners.

God blesses the one who refuses to stand with the sinful.  It doesn’t mean we do not seek to befriend sinners in order to win them to faith, but that we do not abide in their wicked ways.

God blesses the one who refuses to sit with the scoffer.  If we fill our minds with the diatribes and distortions aimed at undermining our faith, we will see an erosion of conviction.

As a child, I learned in church, “Be careful little feet where you go...be careful little eyes what you see...be careful little ears what you hear.”  It is a profound truth stated in simple text.

There is the PASSION of one God prospers (v.2).  

Let this year be one of devotion to the truth of Scripture.  It is God’s love letter to you.  I cannot fathom how one can claim to love God and ignore His Word.

Let this passion move you to meditation on the truth of Scripture.  Immerse yourself in it.  Chew on it until thoroughly digested, as the metaphor of a sheep chewing its cud—conveyed by the Hebrew term.

There is the PRODUCTION of one God prospers (v.3).

You will be firmly planted—roots penetrating deeply so as not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.  Such draw nourishment from the rivers of the Spirit to prevent spiritual drought.

You will be fruitfully productive—in every season bearing the appropriate fruit of the Spirit for that situation.

You will be fragrantly perennial.  Picture the pine whose leaves do not turn and fall off.  Recall the fragrance of its branches.  So, from start to finish we can shed abroad the fragrance of Christ consistently.

You will be faithfully prosperous.  In every area of life, the touch of God will be manifest.

This stands in contrast to the ungodly (v.4-6).  They are mere chaff driven by the wind, sifted at the Judgment Seat and rejected, doomed to eternal destruction.  Which side will we choose?  To prosper in the eternal sunshine of Heaven, or to perish in the everlasting darkness of Hell?