blessings

A Guard friend of mine was fond of saying, “You have to go along to get along.” That’s a current attitude that suggests in order to get ahead in life, we have to conform with what everyone else is doing. And often it seems like that’s true.

But the very first verses of the book of Psalms, Psalm 1:1-2, say otherwise: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”

Sure, it’s a lot easier to go along with conventional thinking at work that says cutting legal corners is OK as long as you don’t get caught. It’s a lot easier to succumb to liberal pressures in the church who would compromise the message in order to be more appealing. And it’s certainly easier to be able to join the pop-culture water cooler talk than to refuse to watch shows or listen to music that promote the wrong values.

Those things are all easier, but they don’t lead to blessings. They lead to that nagging feeling of guilt, that I’ve sold out for something of dubious value. Sure, I want to be liked as much as the next guy, so I keep my mouth shut even though it seems obvious to me that there are only two genders. I don’t speak as often as I should against the emotional violence done to women. I want to take those positions that society will reward me for, instead of what’s right.

But when I find the courage to stand fast, when I don’t compromise, then the blessings come. First is that feeling of relief when the guilt goes. Next is that feeling of warmth that comes from walking close with God. And from that my heart fills with gratitude, and instead of gray skies, everywhere I look I see beauty. I get joy from other people. I sleep soundly. And the blessings just keep piling up.

Oh, sure, I might miss out on some worldly thing, or not be included by some narrow-minded people. And those things will sting a little in the moment. But those aren’t blessings anyway.

As the Psalmist says, there are no blessings like those found in obedience to God. Those other things only look like blessings when I buy the lies.