Daily Devotional for September 26, 2015

September 26 ~ Psalm 15:1-5
God, who gets invited
    to dinner at your place?
How do we get on your guest list?
“Walk straight,
    act right,
        tell the truth.
“Don’t hurt your friend,
    don’t blame your neighbor;
        despise the despicable.
“Keep your word even when it costs you,
    make an honest living,
        never take a bribe.
“You’ll never get blacklisted
    if you live like this.”

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

My mother received the devastating news this week that she probably has cancer.  She meets with an oncologist in a few days to review the results of a biopsy and confirm a diagnosis, but all indications are that this is very serious.  I respectfully ask all of you to pray for my mother…and for us as we support her in what may be a battle of major proportions.

Countless friends and loved ones have reached out to us already with offers of love, prayers, encouragement…and everything else under the sun.  We appreciate them all.  One person said, “Your mother doesn’t deserve this.”  Well, no…she doesn’t.  But then, no one deserves the beast that is cancer – or any other disease or malady.  And while we know that God will use this experience for His glory, we do wish that things were different.

But here’s the thing.  My mother has a permanent place on the “guest list” for dinner with God.  She has served Him well for decades.  She lives out the “criteria” listed in these verses from Psalm 15.  And she has done her very best to instill these same traits in her children and those around her. I’d like to think that she has done a pretty good job on all accounts…but I know that I am still a work in progress!

So as we turn the corner and start the next leg of this earthly journey together, we do so with confidence that our reservations are confirmed…that we are on the “guest list” for perpetual dining with God at His bountiful table.  I find this assurance to be amazing…incredible…comforting and exciting. 

Many who clamor to nab a seat at a fine dining establishment are just glad to be seated.  But in most restaurants, some seats are better than others. There are prime locations that provide ambience and garner impeccable attention from the staff…and there are those near the kitchen door or the restrooms, where the atmosphere is a little less hospitable.  I want to maintain a “good seat” at God’s table…next to my mother!  This scripture passage tells us in part how to achieve that. 

Are you on God’s “guest list?”  Are you living for him in a way that garners a “good seat” at the table?  Frankly, too many people are content just to be seated in the room somewhere. But we should be serving God in such a way that He is constantly saying, “Come closer!  Move on up nearer to Me!”  This is our goal as Christian brothers and sisters…or it should be. Read the “criteria” in these verses again, and put them into action in your daily discipleship. 

Where is your “seat” at God’s table these days?  Are you hanging out in the corner of “Good Enough?” Are you ready to serve Him in all areas of your life and enjoy His offer of “fine dining” each and every day?  Will this be the day that you begin?
   
©2015 Debbie Robus