The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27: 1
There are some things that we should not forget. People should always carry identification and some means of paying for the things that they might require along the way during the day. It is good to remember where you parked the car, if driving one, and it is even more important to know where you live. Recognizing and celebrating the birthdays of people who are important to us is a very good thing to do, and being on time for appointments is proper, polite, and saves us from paying the doctor even when we didn’t benefit from that person’s knowledge and wisdom. Yet, above all of these worthwhile remembrances, there stands one that is both crucial and essential for successful living, and that is remembering the Lord in all things and in every way for all of the remaining days of my life.
The Lord is the one who puts perspective on all of the rest of these places, actions, and people. He brings wisdom to bear on the way that I evaluate what is important and sift through what is needful today. It might seem trivial to consider that every element of my day is something that involves my relationship with God, but He sees it all quite differently. For God actually wants to be a part of the way that I process data and make decisions. His presence in my life should reshape my thought processes and the decisions that I make as well; while His love and attitude of righteous care and concern influence and even reshape the manner in which I think about others and form the thoughts behind my words and actions.
This sort of deep, personal, and total relationship with God is the foundation for confident forward movement into life that also holds other people as valuable and precious. The Lord’s prompting and guidance bring the sort of wisdom and understanding into all of the interactions that we have during the day so that even the most difficult of people might be understood and even valued and appreciated as God views them. The fearlessness that the Lord grants to His people is not so much one that comes out of conquest or that is based upon His promise of victory over the world, for it is founded upon Christ’s complete conquest over the forces of this world with their legacy of sin and death. In Christ we are granted the boldness that we need to face adversaries with love as our primary weapon and with understanding as our relational guidance. Through Christ we can face the day with confidence in His desire to guide us safely through it all as we seek to care about and for everyone that we meet along the way. So, remembering who my Lord is and what His heart desires matters far more than anything else that I might hold foremost in my mind today.