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A Precious Moment
“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!” Ps. 36:7a
It’s too bad that for those of us who were conscious during the ‘80s that the word “precious” recalls little pastel porcelain kids with big heads and blankets. Somehow I don’t think King David the bear-killer had this in mind.
precious |ˈpre sh əs| : Adjective: Of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly; greatly loved or treasured by someone.
I like that part of the definition that it’s not to be wasted. Like a few ounces of water in a canteen in the desert. Don’t waste that. Like your last $10 with five more days before you get paid. Don’t waste that.
The steadfast love of the Lord. Don’t waste that.
But how? How do we not waste it? By understanding it. By remembering it. And by living in light of it.
Study your Bible so you know what this steadfast love is really like. Don’t have vague notions of his steadfast love—this is like a gear with worn down teeth that slips often in the machinery. Attach concrete events in the history of God’s dealing with men to your understanding of steadfast love. Find them in Scripture—they will be like new teeth in a gear that will drive all the other moving parts of the machinery.
Remember these. Memorize them. Replay them in your mind. They will be there when trouble comes and your adversary tempts you to think of God in terms of your circumstances rather than in terms of his revelation of himself.
Then live as if it were true. Because it is true. Live confidently knowing that Almighty God has set his steadfast love upon you. Live joyfully because though the entire world hate you, the steadfast love of the Creator of the entire world has come to you. Live in awe that this steadfast love is so deep that he gave something—rather someone—who is himself far more precious than anything else to make you his child: he gave his one and only Son to make a wretch his treasure.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
—Braden