Psalm 2:7-9 (MSG): God said next, "...What do you want?"

Psalm 2:7-9 (The Message)
^7-9Let me tell you what GOD said next.
He said, "You are my son,
And Today is your birthday.
What do you want? Name it:
Nations as a present?  Continents as a prize?
You can command them all to dance for you,
Or throw them out with tomorrow's trash.

"Today is your birthday," you are born again, a tree replanted in the soil of Eden.  Your life starts fresh - today.  All those days spent in addiction, or greed, or hate...whatever - those are gone.  What do you want from your life going forward.  Do you have a dream?  Do you think that dream aligns with God's plan for you?  Maybe your dream is on a small scale but incredibly elusive - to be sober for a day (or another day).  Commit yourself to God have faith in Him and He can grant it.  I have seen lives transformed this way.  The key to this is having so much faith in God that you can expect this to come true.  Will you be able to find or "muster up" this much faith?

So, today think about what this new life means.  What will you grow and shine on in your new life - and what will you throw out?  Many things will be different.  Some things we obviously want to throw out.  Others we may want to keep but will not be able to.  For example, in a dream of sobriety, we understand the need to stop drinking and will throw that out.  However, we appreciate a happy hour after work with friends.  Let's be honest, that will likely lead to drinking so that will likely need to go, too.

God is giving us whatever we want - as long as we have the faith to live the life he wants us to lead.  Starting today we start making choices based on the life of our dreams.  Based how we think God would want us to use those gifts and resources.  Will we use these things selfishly or towards a purpose much greater than ourselves?  Will we take them for granted or will we treasure them or will we share them?

God, thank you for your gifts and resources - nations as a present, continents as a prize.  Thank you for this day, giving this day as a birthday to start anew.  Lead us in the way to make the most of those gifts - that our work and our lives would reflect the light of your word and your love.  Guide us not into temptation of addiction.  Deliver us from the evil of selfishness, greed, theft, and lying.  Let our sacrifices not be in vain, that they may be for the benefit of others.  That my success in this journey over addiction may be evidence of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of Life. Amen.


Thanks for letting me share.