Psalm
119:97-120. Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. … I hold
back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
If ever there were a summation of just how far I have
to go as a Christian, this must be it. In verse after verse, the Psalmist waxes
rhapsodic about the delights of God’s law. I study the Bible but can’t say I
love the Word the way the writer does. I try to be a good person but don’t
manage to “hold back my feet from every evil way” the way he does.
I envy the Psalmist his passion for the law, which I
translate to mean passion for God. His certainty, his conviction, his
willingness to follow without question are far removed from my daily reality.
Too much time goes by without my even thinking of God. I need one of those
“What Would Jesus Do” bracelets stamped inside my brain. Often by the time I
finally get around to thinking about God, it’s along the lines of, “I bet Jesus
wouldn’t have done that.”
As indicted as I feel by this Psalm, I find hope in
verse 112, “I incline my heart to perform your statutes for ever, to the end.”
My translation puts it this way: “I intend in my heart to fulfill your statutes
always, to the letter.” I’m not too keen on the “to the letter” part. But I
take a lot of comfort from the phrase, “I intend in my heart.” I think my
salvation comes in my intention. I want to love the Word. I want to follow the
Lord. I want to serve God and be part of the body of Christ. I just don’t
always act on my desire.
Nonetheless, I think my wish to follow God is a step
toward making it so. It’s far better to want to serve God and fail, than to
just ignore God altogether. So this Lent, I’m going to try to be more mindful
of that little kernel of desire for God that I often do such a good job of
ignoring. I intend in my heart to do just a little better. The road that’s
paved with my good intentions is not the road to Hell; it’s my road to Heaven.
— Anne Corley
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