No good thing

No good thing

I said to the Lord “You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing” Psalm 16:2

As I meditated upon this verse, I am reminded once again about the futility of life without God at its centre, without God in the most important place. We could have the very best things life could offer us, the most money, the most loving family, the most achievements, the most fame, the best spouse, the best boyfriend/girlfriend, the best food, the best job, the best of anything at all, and at the end of the day, when we really look at it, we will find it meaningless, if our relationship with God is not there.

The most fitting example of this truth is from King Solomon himself who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and found everything meaningless, every endeavor under the sun. He who gained everything found it all meaningless, with the final truth that there is nothing better for man in all the world than to fear God and to obey His commandments.

Many of us love the Purpose Driven Life, the beautiful book written by Rick Warren, which tells us that life is really all about God, and not about us. When God is the starting point of our purpose in life, then only do we begin to really live and enjoy life to the full. David in the Golden Psalm uttered these words from the bottom of his heart “Lord, You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing”. Nothing could even come close to David’s passion for God. Even after he became king and amassed great wealth and fame across the land, his heart still remained passionate to God above all else. He danced and danced before the Lord with all his heart, mindless of his royal status or great wealth. His love for God far exceeded anything of value to him, even his beloved Michal who sadly could not find it in her heart to share the passion for God David had.

The first commandment Jesus declared, is to Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your heart and with all mind and with all your strength. One way we can begin to understand this is to know that apart from the Lord, we have no good thing. That is not to say that the gifts and blessings God has given us are not good, but they are nothing in comparison to the greatness and value of knowing our living God and His precious Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

May we, like David, learn this truth, and keep it close to our hearts, always remembering that the Lord must be first in our lives, all other things come a distant second. 

God bless, Jason