Mapped Out

 Happy Sunday!

"God charts the road you take. The road they take leads to nowhere."(Psalm 1:6 Message).

Long before GPS, and even before MapQuest, we used large state and national maps to find our way around the country.  I remember speaking to my grandmother on the phone, she was telling me how to get from the St. Louis, Missouri area to Macon, Mississippi.  It was the first time I would be driving down alone with my children.  She was adamant about not taking the Jackson, Mississippi exit while coming through Memphis, Tennessee.  I had to write this all down, and I heard her voice in my head the entire way. We made it safely, had a great trip, and came back with the car stuffed with every good thing you could imagine.  I remember praying on the way back that we didn't have a flat tire because the spare was in the trunk under all the things she gave us.

God is even better than my grandmother!  He's mapped out a good plan for our lives and he even tells us how to get there.  Psalm 1 is full of the secrets to living the good life, and prospering in everything you do.  Verses 1 and 2 say, "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely."(Living Bible).  The King James Version breaks verse 1 up into three actions; walking, standing, sitting.  We are Blessed when we don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.

How blessed can you be when you follow these instructions? Great question!  I'm so glad you asked!  Verse 3 says, "They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper."(Living Bible).  Can you imagine that?  I don't like to fish, but I know many who do.  I'm sure the fishermen can verify that even during the dry season the trees on and near the river bank flourish. Their roots go down deep and allow them to be refreshed no matter how hot it gets.  That's how we will be!  No matter what may happen in the world we will continue to grow, increase, and be a blessing to others.

"But for sinners, what a different story!"(Verse 4 Living Bible).  "They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone. In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment; the guilty will be separated from the innocent. Their road suddenly will end in death, yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal."(Verses 4-6 Voice).

Love and prayers, Cynthia