Well, it appears summer has arrived.  For the most part, I am glad to see it.  I don’t particularly care for hot weather, but I do love the sunshine.  As many of you know, I had a busy spring.  Besides working two jobs, I catered a meal for 100 people, we had the grand opening of our new church building, my wife turned 50 years old, please don’t tell her I mentioned this, and my middle son got married.  Wow!  I really did not know if I could pull it off but somehow we managed to get everything done.  I believe there is wisdom in Psalms 37 to bless our lives.   The verses begin by saying, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity”.  In other words, don’t get upset when you see the unrighteous doing well, because it is short lived.  We all want to prosper and have peace but we want it to be long lasting, not fleeting.  Therefore, we want to be men and women of integrity.  So let’s discuss these four qualities that should be normal lifestyle attitudes for each of us.

The first command is to “trust in the Lord.”  This seems so easy, yet it is so difficult to master.  I am one that tries to figure everything out for myself, especially concerning problems.  Trust is a confident reliance on the integrity, veracity, or justice of another, and in this case the Lord.  I should have total confidence that the Lord is protecting and providing for me, because He loves me.  So this summer, I’m going to try to trust more in the Lord and not myself.

Delight yourself in the Lord.   We have a large number of people in this part of the country that are religious.  However, are they “delighting themselves in the Lord or fulfilling a religious duty”?  Is there real intimacy with Him and do they enjoy being in God’s presence?  Do you still have a quiet time with the Lord, where you pray and read the Word?  I would encourage you to try this and you will see the benefit.

Commit your way to the Lord.  Commit is similar to the definition of trust, but may go a little deeper.  It says to devote, pledge, or to consign.  Again, this is more than merely being religious.  He is asking us to commit to Him.  What does the Lord want us to commit?  Let me answer that by asking another question.  What doesn’t the Lord want us to commit to Him?  Everything can be trusted to the Lord.  To me, it means I need to seek God’s wisdom before I start my daily activities.

The last command the Lord tells us to do is to “Rest in the Lord.”  This doesn’t mean one can sleep in church.  The scripture actually says not to fret and cease from anger.  Are there things cluttering your mind like anger, bitterness or unforgiveness?  Do you realize how destructive these qualities are to you?  Decide today to forgive and walk in peace with both God and man.  I fully believe that if we will do these things, “trust, delight, commit and rest”, we will have a “blessed summer”.  
 


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