“Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1 NASB)
In 1859, Charles Dickens published a book, a historical novel, entitled, “The Tale of Two Cities.” The setting for the book is London and Paris. The opening line, often quoted still, today, says, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.”
Look, I know you did not plan to read about history or literature this morning. Your motive was to read something to help you in life. Well, I will not disappoint you, for I have no long tale, but I do have something to tell you; something that will lead to the best of times, even in the worst of times. I call it “The Tell Of Two Citizens.”
I’ll be brief, realizing it is Saturday morning and you have a lot to do, and heaven knows that I don’t want to be the reason for you not accomplishing all that is on your things to do list today. No, I don’t want to give you any excuse to miss being in the assembly of the saints tomorrow, Sunday.
Look at the passage above. Read it carefully. Come away with this thought: As citizens of this earth, and most of you citizens of heaven, but perhaps some are reading who don’t have that distinction yet, so as citizens of this earth, you have two choices. You can be like the righteous man in the passage above; the one who is like a tree planted by streams of water, or you can be like the unrighteous, wicked, sinner man, who is like the chaff which the wind drives away. In other words, you are faced with the choice to have a successful life or an unsuccessful life. And to be clear, when I say “successful,” so that you will not get hung up in some misinterpreted, misconstrued, misinforming prosperity teaching, or you can choose to have an unsuccessful life, I’m referring to a life where you can withstand even the storms of life. That’s the best of times. The unsuccessful life is a life in which you will encounter unwanted and undesirable circumstances in this world and the world to come. The latter, that’s the worst of times.
If you are thinking, “I have already made the choice to come to Jesus,” that’s great! You will experience the way of the righteous, one that will not perish, from an eternal perspective. However, each day, you must choose what type of citizen you will be, a citizen of heaven or a citizen of the world. If this meditation perchance ends up in the hands of someone who does not know Jesus as their Savior, I hope you make the choice to find delight in the Lord, come to Jesus, meditate on His word day and night, attain citizenship in heaven, and be like a tree planted by the streams of water.
I will close with a question, “What kind of citizen are you going to be today?” What about the rest of the week to come? I suggest that you are one who stays God-conscious and Christ-centered! Enjoy your Saturday and enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise tomorrow. Find success! Be blessed!
“Success is not achieved by leaving God out of your life.” (Dr. Charles Stanley 1999)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King