Soul Revival

One of the blogs I subscribe to is Stephen Altrogge's The Blazing Center. He always serves up something to challenge me. His latest was no exception.

Stephen writes:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;” (Psalms 19:7 ESV)

Do you ever feel like you need to have your soul revived? I do. All the time. For example:

When I’m in the midst of an exhausting week. Work is stretching me thin and I’ve got meetings every night.

• My proposed “soul-revival” solution: A couch, a bag of chips, and a greasy remote control.

• God’s solution: The soul-reviving Word of God.

When I’m discouraged by my sin. My life seems like one, big sin carnival, except that there are no clowns and no one is laughing. I had a conflict with Jen, thought horrible, judgmental thoughts about a friend, and I’ve been doing devotions-lite for the past week. Will I ever grow?

• My proposed solution: Usually some form of resolution like, “I’m not going to ever miss my devotions again and I’ll serve Jen twice as much this week.”

• God’s solution: The condemnation-killing promises of the Word of God.

When my heart is cold toward God. Reading the Bible feels like reading an owners manual for a dishwasher. I can almost see my prayers dripping from my mouth onto the floor. I would rather watch television than go to small group.

• My proposed solution: An incredible spiritual experience involving either tongues of fire or lightning from the heavens.

• God’s solution: The living, active, sharp Word of God which has power to revive my affections.

All we need for life and godliness is found in the pages of scripture. My soul won’t be revived by couch-time, spiritual resolutions, or tongues of fire. My soul will be revived when I sit down, open my Bible, and prayerfully meditate on the Word of God.