October 17 – Covered in God’s perfection

The Lord watches over the blameless all their days, and their inheritance will last forever. They will not be disgraced in times of adversity; they will be satisfied in days of hunger.  But the wicked will perish; the Lord’s enemies, like the glory of the pastures, will fade away—they will fade away like smoke.  (Psalm 37:18-20 HCSB)

This is a powerful promise to hold onto, to remind yourself of, and to remind God of when you are going through tough times.  God says that if you are blameless you will not be disgraced in times of adversity.  All of us are sinners, and all of us are very flawed, but God is talking about the blamelessness and purity that comes when we live a life of repentance and faith in Jesus sacrifice for us.  He covers us with His perfection, and clothes us with His goodness when we daily die to our flesh and daily live for Him.  Those who are truly living our their salvation, are blameless in God’s eyes, and they can be sure they will not be disgraced.

One woman in the church used this passage when she was facing false accusations on her job.  A group of employees had become jealous because her boss was pleased with her work.  He was letting her have privileges that were denied to the rest of them, and so they banded together to force her out of her job.  It was a painful time, not just because of the accusations, but her emotions were running amok.  She felt fear, anger, doubt, insecurity, panic, and shed a lot of tears, but none of that was necessary.  She belonged to God, and all that energy should have been channeled into trusting in Him and fighting the devil.  When she read this verse, she remembered what she had learned in church, and reigned in all the wild emotions and focused her attention on faith.  She trusted that God had to keep His Word, and He did.  The plans of her accusers fell apart, and she was treated fairly and in a few months time, was given a promotion.  This would never have happened if she hadn’t caught herself from allowing her emotions to rule her – if she had done so, she would no longer be seen by God as “blameless.”

God watches over you all your days.  You have an inheritance that lasts forever.  Your inheritance isn’t just going to heaven when you die.  God tells us in Romans 8:17 that we are heirs together with Christ.  We are in God’s royal family, and even now on this earth, we can receive the benefits of an heir.   He promises to rescue us from disgrace and to satisfy our hunger.  Make this promise yours today.