Watch Your Walk (Part III)

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
    or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers, - Psalm 1:1

So, how is that relevant to us today?  What TV shows do you watch?  Does the show celebrate a sin?  Maybe it is cleverly written, maybe it’s the number one show in America, and maybe it is very funny.  But when you watch it, do you notice the sins in it?  Maybe you did at first, but now it’s just a part of the show and you don’t see it anymore.  When your kids watch it with you, do you think they notice?  At what point do you think they’ll start thinking that’s the way they’re supposed to live when they leave your house? 

How do you talk when you’re not around Christians or at church?  When someone discusses a personal problem with you, do you pray with them or tell them you will pray for them?  Or are you too embarrassed to say that?  If someone asks for advice, do you provide wisdom from the Bible or advise them to meet with a Pastor or Christian counselor?  Are you willing to call a sin in someone’s life a sin or are you too afraid of losing their friendship, so you want to blend in and be like everybody else?

What books do you read?  What songs do you listen too?  How do you work to control the thoughts in your mind?  What are your dreams?  Are they Godly things?

¹ Blessed is the one ...
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.

Notice that the Psalm describes what a blessed person does.  He does not walk in step with the wicked; he does not stand in the path that sinners take; he does not sit in bad company.  He does delight in the Word and instruction of God and he meditates on that Word at all times.  He practices these things.  What is the result?

³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

The person is rooted in the Word of God and they yield fruit in their season.  In Isaiah 55:10-11, the water is equivalent to the Word of God.  And here the blessed person's nourishment and foundation for life is in the Word of God upon which they study and delight within.  The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory,the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  (John 15:5)  The study and delight in Jesus Christ.  Their testimony stands and doesn’t fade.  This work prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. - John 15:6

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to Me will live in safety
    and be at ease, without fear of harm. – Proverbs 1:32-33

⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Two people, two directions, two different destinies.  One leads to life and one leads to death. 

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. – Matthew 7:13-14

Watch your walk and find your life.  A full life in Him, with Him, and for Him.